Red Hat today released the first public beta version of its upcoming 64-bit Linux distribution for Intel's IA-64 architecture.

The beta is based on an early, pre-release build of version 2.4 of the Linux kernel. It bundles some 700 "core software packages", including database management tools, utilities and server-oriented applications, compiled for Intel's 64-bit architecture and the Itanium CPU.

Red Hat's Itanium public beta can be downloaded here, if you can find a machine to run it on. Development tools for the 64-bit open source OS can also be downloaded from Red Hat's Web site, here.

Other 64-bit buffs could try Red Hat's Alpha version, which has, of course, been shipping for some time. ®