Jason Fister is considering buying a 64-bitpersonal computer; and although the 35-year-old San Francisco healthcare worker knows that he probably does not need one, it sounds "cutting edge" to him.

Many other people will be doing the same thing, as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Intel's chief rival in PC microprocessors, this week launches its Athlon 64 chip and tries to persuade the computer-buying public that 64 bits are better than the standard 32 found in most of today's desktop machines.