taim Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I thought I'd make an alternative poll that covers the three main answers from the other thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Not sure if we need another thread but *shrug* x64 OS itself, sure, it's about time.. x64 systems are hardly some new thing, those old Athon XP's and such should be dying off by now due to age. Server's are already there, the desktops should eventually go that way too. Ditching compatibility with millions of programs for zero benefit? No that's retarded. I have no desire to set up a VM just so I can play an older game or something. An OS that runs only a fraction of the programs I need it to? No thanks. Jose_49 and Ian W 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Frank B. Subscriber² Posted August 21, 2014 Subscriber² Share Posted August 21, 2014 Make it x64-only with WOW-support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COKid Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 "Dead horse, I will continue to beat you." Even Microsoft recommends installing the 32-bit version of Office on 64-bit machines, because of plugin support. Windows x64 only is still 5-10 years away. Just my $0.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Method Man Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 X64 only without WOW32 would make Windows RT look successful by comparison. AndyMutz and Jose_49 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose_49 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Yeah. I think it's about time, we move to 64-bit with WoW32 support. Many components used a couple of years ago, has 64-bit support. Even the ###### atom from my netbook (2010) has 64-bit hardware capabilities. It's been many years now, since computer come with sufficient and powerful hardware to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusi0n Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Apple did it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeMaster Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I'd say continue with 32bit releases due to the fact that netbooks came with processors that are only capable of handling 32bit OSes. And someone mentioned in the other thread that some Windows 8 tablets are still using x86 processors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Supervisor Posted August 21, 2014 Supervisor Share Posted August 21, 2014 I think it's time to move PCs (towers & laptops) to x64 only (w/ wow32) but I think x86 should still be made available but only for tablets Dashel 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taim Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 How many of these netbook/tablet users that have x86 processors will be upgrading to Windows 9? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patseguin Global Moderator Posted August 21, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 I think most modern computers use enough memory that they would need 64 bit Windows anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealDamien Subscriber¹ Posted August 21, 2014 Subscriber¹ Share Posted August 21, 2014 I would say 64bit with wow support. without wow support over 80% program wont run. and no one will buy a system if they cant run there 32bit programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taim Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 double-width compare and exchange (CMPXCHG16B) CPU instruction is needed for 64-bit Windows 8.1, it's not supported in old x64 AMD processors and some x64 Intel processors can be effected if the motherboard doesn't have support for it. Windows 8.1 32-bit works with these systems. The instruction has been supported for more than a decade so it shouldn't matter, I'm just using it as an example that even 64-bit processors can be get problems with using 64-bit software over 32-bit. The use of the instruction was to improve security effectiveness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taim Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 If someone is running hardware without AMD64 support then they should probably upgrade their hardware Not all AMD64 hardware is supported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 "Dead horse, I will continue to beat you." Even Microsoft recommends installing the 32-bit version of Office on 64-bit machines, because of plugin support. Windows x64 only is still 5-10 years away. Just my $0.02. That is STILL rewarding developers for dragging their feet. How long has x64 been selling in greater numbers than x32? In the case of Windows, going back to Vista - in the case of Office, since Office 2010 - in that case, basically from the start, as 2010 was the first x64 version of Office. I don't reward foot-dragging by browser developers (and there is no longer a reason to, as the biggest culprit in terms of browser plug-ins - Adobe - DOES have an x64 Flash Player - for Waterfox), so why should we keep on rewarding foot-dragging by any other developers? Unless developers have incentive to move, they won't - and we ALL know it. Threshold should include a warning for developers - WoW64 is going away with the next version; they have dragged their feet long enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Apple did it.. Apple STILL hasn't moved to fully x64 - like Windows x64 (or Linux x64, for that matter), there are still x32 parts of the OS (and for the same reason there are in both Windows and Linux - the infamous "backward-compatibiilty support") And that is in Yosemite - and every OS X prior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taim Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 I found a person with these specs Windows 7 32-bit, 2.2 Ghz Core 2 Duo and Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT. He'd probably be able to play the top three steam games with no issues with those specs, I wonder why he sticks with 32-bit. Though I don't know how much physical ram he has in that system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Account no longer active) Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 It's pointless releasing another 32-bit version of Windows as all PCs come with at least 4GB of RAM nowadays. Hum 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taim Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 World of Warcraft even has 64-bit mode and it reduces out of memory crashes usually caused by flaky plugins/UI mods. It also increases FPS by a few frames. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 What year will we move on to 64-bit, if not now ? I'd think true programmers would enjoy rewriting the out-dated 32-bit programs. Kind of a mystery why we aren't stepping forward to 128-bit by now ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knife Party Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Apple did it.. Apple and MS segment the market in different fashions. If MS were to go 64bit, which they should it would take alot for focus and development to update their entire ecosystem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo1911 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I think, Microsoft needs to come up with a definite deadline as to when X86 versions of their software will be discontinued and when we can expect to see WOW64 layer being dropped completely from X64 versions. The clear roadmap will allow developers to focus their energies on specific architecture while coding. Let the businesses who will want to run 8 bit apps of last century remain forever on the old operating systems of their choice. They are not going to upgrade to newer versions of Windows anyways. It would be awesome if Windows 9 is X64 only with WOW64 layer in 2015. Then from 2018, Windows goes pure X64 without WOW. Microsoft needs to convey their vision to developers. But as usual, Microsoft will remain confused and push unimportant ideas like abomination called Modern UI and likes instead of X64. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealDamien Subscriber¹ Posted August 22, 2014 Subscriber¹ Share Posted August 22, 2014 its harder to find x64 plugins for free video editors and free video players. and some devs say there is no reason to make an x64 because it not needed and some 64bit software is unstable in windows 8, compared to windows 7. I dont know what the heck happened with that. things are slowly switching, everyone is used to 32bit because of windows xp yeah there was a 64bit of windows xp, but drivers where crap. and not many home consumers used it. vista was the push the got companies going and companies took long time to get there act together and it still on going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneKnee Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I think it will be another release or two before we get 64bit only versions with WOW32 support, but I think it'll be at least another decade before WOW32 is ditched or kept as an optional addition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I found a person with these specs Windows 7 32-bit, 2.2 Ghz Core 2 Duo and Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT. He'd probably be able to play the top three steam games with no issues with those specs, I wonder why he sticks with 32-bit. Though I don't know how much physical ram he has in that system. And there is absolutely zero reason that he should STILL be running an x32 version of Windows on that hardware other than not wanting to crossgrade - that hardware CAN run the x64 flavor of Windows 7 - unless he has LESS than 1 GB of RAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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