A Messy Transition: Practical Problems With 32bit Addressing In Windows
by Ryan Smith on July 12, 2007 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Software
Final Words
As we wrap things up, we'll reserve a few words for game & application developers who are working on projects that will hit the barrier. Supreme Commander is extremely disappointing in how it handles running out of addressing space. Ideally we'd like for it not to crash, but realistically we'd settle for just an error message pointing out that it hit the 2GB barrier so that we could quickly reach a solution. Otherwise seemingly-random crashes tend to be one of the hardest problems to resolve as a user. Developers need to take care here to offer some kind of warning when the 2GB barrier is the problem; not everyone is or will be well read on the subject or have the time to diagnose it, when it's actually an easily solvable problem.
Getting back to the point at hand however, we feel that this is only going to be the tip of the iceberg. As games and applications continue to come out that push the boundaries of computer hardware and run afoul of the 2GB barrier, these problems will only pick up in pace. For many power users this experience will be a common occurrence, and for most it will be a frustrating experience.
We're at the front end of a messy transition, one that may not end for several years. Today, 32bit games will hit the 2GB barrier, and tomorrow games with support for large addressing will hit the 3GB/4GB barrier. Not until 64bit versions of games are ubiquitous will we be completely through this transition, and that will still be a few years away.
Until that point, stories such as these will continue to be told as users unknowingly hit the 2GB barrier. Developers need to be doing a better job at handling the issue via better crash reports, but our inner cynic says that they can't be solely in charge of the matter. So it will be up to users to diagnose their own problems and take the appropriate action, be it switching operating systems and/or modifying executables. A little knowledge in this regard can go a long way.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
69 Comments
View All Comments
johnsonx - Saturday, July 14, 2007 - link
We are both right. While many 32-bit apps run fine on 64-bit windows, some don't. In particular, any app that employs any sort of driver (I'm talking software drivers, not hardware drivers) must at least have the driver compiled in 64-bit mode. In my case the example is a file synchronizing application that installs a driver to monitor file system changes. There are many apps that wouldn't appear to need a driver, but in fact they do. If you want to see the software drivers on your system, go into Device Manager and select Tools->Show Hidden Devices. Now look in "Non-Plug and Play Drivers". Everything in there is a software driver. If you're running 64-bit Windows, everything in there MUST be 64-bit. Applications can also install drivers at runtime, which also must be 64-bit.There are other 32-bit apps that for whatever reason just won't work on 64-bit windows. I believe AutoCAD 2006 and earlier have this problem. Likewise, any apparently 32-bit app that still has some 16-bit legacy code won't run either (for example some rather old but still perfectly useful 32-bit apps use a 16-bit version of InstallShield; the app itself might run, but there's no way to get it installed.).
Regarding the Retail version, I've never had a retail version of Vista in my hand. I recall Microsoft saying at one point that both versions would be on the same disc and had never heard anything contrary.
Christopher1 - Sunday, July 15, 2007 - link
So this 64-bit software driver problem doesn't apply to things like games, I would assume, considering that they usually do not install software drivers?Well then, I think I'm going to contact Toshiba and use their 'Upgrade to x64 version of your operating system' option that recently appeared, if this doesn't effect games.
miahallen - Sunday, July 15, 2007 - link
No, all games should run fine on x64...however, tests have shown that most games run slightly faster on Vista x86.miahallen - Saturday, July 14, 2007 - link
OK you are right, I stand corrected. I knew about this, just wasn't thinking about it. But from my experiance, those particular apps (that use SW drivers) seem to be the ones getting the quickest attention. I do recall having a couple issues related....a freeware plugin for MCE called mymovies. x64 is not supported at all. Also, Daemon Tools & PowerISO were having issues...but I believe they have both been resolved since then (I went to x86 about four months ago, not much point for me to go back until my next upgrade - 8GB RAM).strikeback03 - Friday, July 13, 2007 - link
Somehow I'm doubting that the "average computer user" who buys a prebuilt system without knowing or caring about OS design will stand for random peripherals not working due to a 64bit OS. Probably part of why finding 64bit versions of Vista on prebuilt systems is hard. What should happen is Microsoft state right now that the next version of Windows will be 64bit only; then try and educate consumers that some things won't be compatible, and notify companies that they really need to have their 64bit drivers working by then.jay401 - Thursday, July 12, 2007 - link
No, they should have rendered their units properly (if that's even the real reason... somewhere though they aren't doing something right in their coding, given the way SupCom eats memory).jpeyton - Thursday, July 12, 2007 - link
On page 5, under Software Test Bed, the RAM should read (4x512MB) instead of (4x512GB).fic2 - Thursday, July 12, 2007 - link
First sentence on the front page summary:"As applications being to approach"
I assume that "being" is supposed to be begin.