chinny22 wrote on 2022-09-25, 09:52:
Windows Vista was released in 2007 which is my rough mark of when the masses started moving over to x64 but alot of software was still 32bit only.
Hi. Sorry for replying to this one, I'll stop annoying you guys from now on here.
But I remember this time. It wasn't the developers fault back then.
In the 2000s, many devs were all excited to switch to 64-Bit computing on Windows. I was one of them.
There were two or three big reasons it didn't materialize.
a) Microsoft and other manufacturers who didn't provide 64-Bit compilers the devs wished for
b) Microsoft and stubborn users (also on Vogons) who refused to let go x86 editions of Windows (Win32 application compatibility was not endangered at any time)
c) Limited device driver support by manufacturers and Microsoft;
If only they had gotten themselves together and recompiled all their legacy drivers, just one time in history
One of the biggest issues were that no x64 compilers for VB6 and Delphi programmers existed.
The VB6 community (VB6 programmers were a silent majority) literally begged for an x64 update, even started a petition, but MS didn't react.
32-Bit Windows. The fact that x86 Windows was still newly installed and caused a dilemma for developers:
- Should I do make two binaries for Win32/Win64?
And if I do, will the average Joe understand what he/she needs to choose/install?
- Win64 is the future, so should I ditch the Win32 binary?
- Or should I just keep providing a Win32 binary so that it will run without a headache?
The latter is what most developers had choosen at the time.
If the 32-Bit editions of Windows had been phased out gracefully,
the adoption would have happened much earlier.
Or, if Microsoft had supported FAT Binaries/Universal Binaries like Apple.
Or if MS gave Windows installer the ability to install the right binary type automatically as needed.
Alas, it didn'tn turned out that way, sadly. 🙁
Here's a reminder of how people react if you confront them with obsolescence of 32-Bit software: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=81680
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
//My video channel//