x86-64 Machine-Level Programming∗ Randal E. Bryant David R. O’Hallaron September 9, 2005 Intel’s IA32 instruction set architecture (ISA), colloquially known as “x86”, is the dominant instruction format for the world’s computers. IA32 is the platform of choice for most Windows and Linux machines. The ISA we use today was defined in 1985 with the introduction of the i386 microprocessor, extending th