Final answer:
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, released in April 2005, was the first version of Windows to support both 32-bit and 64-bit CPUs, enabling better performance and memory management.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first version of Microsoft Windows that supported both 32- and 64-bit central processing units (CPUs) was Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, which was released in April 2005. This was a significant milestone, as previous versions of Windows, including the original Windows XP (released in 2001), were primarily geared towards 32-bit architectures. The inception of 64-bit processing in Windows operating systems allowed users to take advantage of the increased computing power and memory management capabilities of 64-bit CPUs, which were becoming more prevalent in personal computers following the innovations and advancements in microprocessor technology by companies like Intel.