x86 - developing for new instruction sets

Question

Intel is set to release a new instruction set called AVX, which includes an extension of SSE to 256-bit operation. That is, either 4 double-precision elements or 8 single-precision elements.

How would one go about developing code for AVX, considering there's no hardware out there that supports it yet? More generally, how can developers write code for hardware that doesn't exist, for instance if they want to have software ready when the supporting CPU is released?

Answer 1

Maybe I'm missing something about your question but it seems the answer is on the website that you linked. Use the Intel Compiler to get access to the new intrinsic functions so you can generate the code and use the emulator to test it.