User's Manual

Vol. 3 1-1
CHAPTER 1
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
The Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 3A:
System Programming Guide, Part 1 (order number 253668) and the Intel® 64 and
IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 3B: System Programming
Guide, Part 2 (order number 253669) are part of a set that describes the architecture
and programming environment of Intel 64 and IA-32 Architecture processors. The
other volumes in this set are:
• Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 1: Basic
Architecture (order number 253665).
• Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volumes
2A & 2B: Instruction Set Reference (order numbers 253666 and 253667).
The Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 1,
describes the basic architecture and programming environment of Intel 64 and IA-32
processors. The
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual,
Volumes 2A & 2B, describe the instruction set of the processor and the opcode struc-
ture. These volumes apply to application programmers and to programmers who
write operating systems or executives. The
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Soft-
ware Developer’s Manual, Volumes 3A & 3B, describe the operating-system support
environment of Intel 64 and IA-32 processors. These volumes target operating-
system and BIOS designers. In addition,
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software
Developer’s Manual, Volume 3B, addresses the programming environment for
classes of software that host operating systems.
1.1 PROCESSORS COVERED IN THIS MANUAL
This manual set includes information pertaining primarily to the most recent Intel
®
64 and IA-32 processors, which include:
• Pentium
®
processors
• P6 family processors
• Pentium
®
4 processors
• Pentium
®
M processors
• Intel
®
Xeon
®
processors
• Pentium
®
D processors
• Pentium
®
processor Extreme Editions
• 64-bit Intel
®
Xeon
®
processors
• Intel
®
Core™ Duo processor
• Intel
®
Core™ Solo processor