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I am downloading Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS when I click on download, then it's shows "amd64" somewhere in the name of file like "ubuntu-16.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso" , What does it mean? Is this not for Intel processors?

Javed Saifi
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    amd64 refers to all XX86 based 64-bit processors regardless of manufacturer. – ravery Jul 06 '17 at 17:07
  • Please consider marking the answer which you think helped you most as accepted by clicking the grey check button on its left. That way you can mark the question as solved. Thanks and welcome to Ask Ubuntu. – Byte Commander Jul 06 '17 at 21:01

2 Answers2

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AMD64 is the standard designation for Intel/AMD architecture 64-bit versions of the operating system. It is AMD64 because AMD produced the first-marketed 64-bit CPU chips, and the competing Intel 64-bit hardware never really took off (Intel wound up copying the AMD instruction set, in the end, as I understand it).

Zeiss Ikon
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  • I think IBM had the first 64 bit chip in the 1960's era mainframes. No doubt they would have marketed it to big governments and large corporations. You could say AMD was first for PC Platform though. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jul 06 '17 at 17:19
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix Guarantee that wasn't a single-chip CPU -- I don't know that integrated circuits existed at all before 1970, but I know the IBM mainframe CPUs were discrete components. – Zeiss Ikon Jul 06 '17 at 17:21
  • I may be wrong about the decade. I know the first ones had vacuum tubes in them and when a fly flew in and short circuited a tube the computer phrase bug was coined to explain a system crash. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jul 06 '17 at 17:24
  • That was Eniac, as I recall -- 1940s vintage. Transistors came along in the late 1950s, and ICs around 1971. It wasn't until LSI that you could put even an 8-bit CPU on a single chip. – Zeiss Ikon Jul 06 '17 at 18:11
  • @Zeiss Ikon now my doubt is clear, thank you buddy. – Javed Saifi Jul 06 '17 at 19:38
  • Pretty clearly now the article I read awhile back meant IBM had the first 64 bit CPU which would have been a cluster of chips / transistors / gates, etc. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jul 06 '17 at 19:43
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It simply means that you're downloading the 64 bit version of the Ubuntu installer.

amd64 is just the general name of the standard 64 bit architecture used in most modern desktop and laptop devices. This is not specific to CPUs manufactured by AMD but works for all brands.

Note that the 64 bit installer will only run on CPUs that support this 64 bit architecture. Older processors might only support 32 bit, in that case you would not be able to start this installer on those.

Byte Commander
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