[CS-FSLUG] Query: 64-bit vs 32-bit
Frank Bax
fbax at sympatico.ca
Wed Aug 30 10:23:38 CDT 2006
At 10:36 AM 8/30/06, Ed Hurst wrote:
>It's true there are currently few advantages apparent to the average
>user. I know so little, so I have to ask: Is it possible coding with
>32-bit is a mindset, a basic design structure in itself? Does taking
>full advantage of 64-bit -- the extra registers, the SSE2/SSE3 stuff,
>etc. -- require a completely different way of looking at code? If
>someone started a new project from scratch, and were thinking in 64-bit
>from the start, would it be very different?
Perhaps its a support issue. Before a developer can produce a 64-bit
binary, they need a 64-bit compiler that runs on a stable 64-bit
OS. Presumably there are some coding difference, if only in system API
calls. They can then start coding for 64-bit, but will there be any uses
of their software on that platform yet? Why invest the effort before there
is a real market? During the coding/release process, developer also needs
to decide if they have resources to support both 32 and 64 bit versions for
a period of time.
Does anyone remember the change from 16-bit to 32-bit Windows and the long
delay before 32-bit apps actually appeared (in some case several
years)? Was there a similar transition with Linux?
Frank
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