@Silverlight: 64bit? No Dice. Really?? | The Coffeehouse

Ix
Missed it by that much...

For shame. How can you make a 64 bit OS and not support it? Anyone know why?

figuerres
???

well you do have two version of IE in 64 bit windows... it does run in the other IE right??

DuNuNuBatman

I don't know of any pluggins that work in IE x64. They should start moving that direction, but as of right now, I don't think there is any technical reason to do so.

matthews

Does your browser really need 16 exabytes of address space?

SlackmasterK
I write my OWN blogging engines

In reply to matthews

#Sep 15th, 2008 @ 4:07 PM

The point is not having to open a new window... copy, paste address... Since we are the kind of people who start > run > iexplore, and x64 comes up via that standard command...

It's bad enough Adobe makes us do this; but come on, we expect better of Microsoft. You're better than Adobe.

Sven Groot
My name has 9 letters. Coincidence? I think not...

One of the effects of this is that any Sidebar gadgets that use Silverlight will not work on Vista x64 because the sidebar is 64 bit (a 32 bit sidebar is also included but th 64 bit one is the one that starts by default).

It sucks.

CreamFilling512

In reply to Sven Groot

#Sep 15th, 2008 @ 8:19 PM

How do they mess this up so badly? I thought one of the main points of .NET is its supposed to be agnostic of the CPU architecture.

stevo_
Human after all

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Sep 15th, 2008 @ 10:17 PM

Personally I don't think you need to copy between both, theres no advantages with ie64, and going to run and typing iexplorer is a bit daft considering the quick icons, start menu pinned items.

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Sep 15th, 2008 @ 10:17 PM

I especially like how in a lot of Microsoft videos I've seen they keep asserting with a straight face that they're committed about 64 bit and are supporting it widely.

figuerres
???

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Sep 15th, 2008 @ 10:17 PM

"How do they mess this up so badly?
I thought one of the main points of .NET is its supposed to be agnostic of the CPU architecture."

the browser hosts the plugin that in turn hosts silverlight. and that means you have some low level issues with what you can do.
also the silverlight runtime is kept small by not having all the bits found in a full .net runtime.

I do want to see more 64 bit support for stuff... but I think support for the browser would mean a full set of 64 bit silverlight binaries for IE 64 bit.

BlackStallion

Thanks, microsoft I luv silverlight...You really got a hit on this one!

kettch

In reply to figuerres

#Sep 16th, 2008 @ 5:15 AM

Compiled .NET assemblies should be able to run on any architecture, but the underlying framework needs to be specifically compiled for each architecture.

tylerwilson

I was looking for someplace to post my opinion on this issue, and this seems to be an appropriate place.

I agree, it is shameful that MS does not do more to get people over to the x64 side of the world. About once a year I try to set up an x64 system - XP x64, Vista x64 and now Win7 x64. Each time I try to get a 'pure' x64 system, and each time I fail - though each time it is slightly closer.

If anybody should be making x64 versions of applications, drivers, etc it is Microsoft. Get get on the ball and do it!

Thanks,
Tyler

intelman

In reply to tylerwilson

#Mar 10th @ 5:38 AM

The sidebar in x64 Vista is 64bit, no silverlight can be used in gadgets. The same goes for Flash Sad

Cupiditas
Chris Hawkins

In reply to kettch

#Sep 16th, 2008 @ 10:35 PM

I assume it's not the framework that's the problem with Silverlight anyway, but the lack of a 64bit display plug-in (which is native).

Erisan

Sorry this is a bit offtopic ... but I think this is pretty interesting

"Jo Shields has also done the work to port Moonlight to ARM" - Taking Over the World

littleguru
<3 Seattle

In reply to Sven Groot

#Sep 15th, 2008 @ 8:19 PM

Anyone knowing if there's a Silverlight host for 64bit in the plannings/development?

figuerres
???

In reply to littleguru

#Mar 13th @ 6:01 AM

sounds like a good one to put to the mixlive / ask the gu thing.... Mr. Gu any love for x64 IE in the works....

ZippyV
Fired Up

In reply to figuerres

#Mar 13th @ 7:46 AM

Why is it so difficult to compile it for 64-bit browsers?

littleguru
<3 Seattle

In reply to ZippyV

#Mar 13th @ 11:29 AM

Perhaps they changed the APIs there?

figuerres
???

In reply to ZippyV

#Mar 13th @ 11:29 AM

I do not think it's that at all.

I will say this: my best guess is that MSFT felt that at the time of silverlight V1-V2 that the "market" was/is the most common case:
users running 32 bit versions of Vista and XP. that having a test suite, build, versioning , etc.... for the small number of users on x64 was just not worth the cost.

that's my guess, if anyones *knows* for sure the please tell us what the low down is.

now as more OEM's are making Vista x64 machines as systems you can just go to BestBuy and get then the numbers of x64 systems will rise and then it will be time to do the x64 version.

personally I feel they shuld have taken the cost as a given and done the x64 build for day one.
but I am not the guy in the drivers seat.

matthews

In reply to figuerres

#Mar 13th @ 11:39 AM

Well the vast majority of people will be using 32-bit IE anyway in Windows x64, since a lot of things don't support x64 browsers (flash, for instance). It doesn't really make sense to waste time porting, testing, compiling, and releasing a build on something nobody uses (64-bit browsers).

Granted, it does kinda suck that sidebar stuff doesn't work.

Sven Groot
My name has 9 letters. Coincidence? I think not...

In reply to matthews

#Mar 14th @ 11:20 AM

But it's a chicken and egg problem. We use 32 bit IE because none of the add-ons work, and no one develops add-ons for 64 bit IE because nobody uses it. If anyone, I'd expect MS to take the forefront in trying to break this cycle; after all, they're the ones who develop 64 bit Windows.

figuerres
???

In reply to Sven Groot

#Mar 14th @ 8:17 PM

amen !

I think MSFT should make it possible to run 64 bit any place they can.

heck I finaly see PC's now from major vendors coming with Vista home prem x64 and 6 to 12 gigs of ram.
that's a big step in the direction of having more room for apps to be 64 bit.

and it could be a good way for getting others to port.

if MSFT could show that users with 64 bit vista can run 64 bit silverlight and not flash... then adobe would *need* to get flash working to compete.... and so on...

harlock123
Tall, Dark, and Gruesome

In reply to figuerres

#Mar 15th @ 9:06 PM

One of the problems with 64 bit adoption from my standpoint is that so many of the oft used techniques for integration of systems fail in the 64 bit world because the interfaces between them are 32 bit only.

Example

Major state contractor I work with all the time creates its system interface solely using little access databases. Never mind that the system of getting that data is human interface only ( A rather bad web site ), we have managed to robotize this interface. The files we get are the crummy access databases. Here we have a situation where a 64 bit app cannot instance the the JET engine to open these things. We are forced to tell our customers that they have to employ the robot in a 32 bit world. ( A virtual machine or another network machine running the service ). An you can forget about getting them to employ something else for this. 400+ million has bought them this interface and that's it because the bank be empty.....

Now in this case Microsoft might be able to address this by getting Jet into 64 bits but that's just one case. There are loads of others out there. I love the 64 bit world. But often its really just a container for a load of 32 bit sandboxes rather than apps running native because of reasons like this. If it were only IE and Silverlight then that might be doable but for the time being I can see that they are really stuck. A victim of the widely employed legacy technologies they so successfully pushed in the days of yore.