Why are 64-bit operating systems not the norm by now?

[RLP06]

It seems like 64-bit operating systems are much superior to 32-bit, but yet, it seems like 32-bit systems are still the norm, and theres much conflict with drivers, hardware and such....

I'm just wondering why manufacturers/end users/etc haven't all jumped on the 64-bit ship, am i missing something?

[Khrak]

It seems like 64-bit operating systems are much superior to 32-bit, but yet, it seems like 32-bit systems are still the norm, and theres much conflict with drivers, hardware and such....

I'm just wondering why manufacturers/end users/etc haven't all jumped on the 64-bit ship, am i missing something?

Billions of lines of legacy code built around 32bit OSes. Newer hardware might have all the needed drivers, but unsupported hardware/software doesn't. We need to reach the point that the unsupported hardware/software also has 64bit drivers.

[Gee]

The problem is not hardware. It is software. Drivers are software. If your application does not run in 64 Bit, what are you going to do?

Same thing happened for software. If you like WordPerfect, but all your friends use Word. What are you going to do? If someone sends you a Word document and you can't open it, you have to conform to the norm.

Same goes for IM clients. I HATE!!! MSN. It is crap. I much prefer ICQ, but everyone in Canada uses MSN, so I had to switch.

[RLP06]

The problem is not hardware. It is software. Drivers are software. If your application does not run in 64 Bit, what are you going to do?

Same thing happened for software. If you like WordPerfect, but all your friends use Word. What are you going to do? If someone sends you a Word document and you can't open it, you have to conform to the norm.

Same goes for IM clients. I HATE!!! MSN. It is crap. I much prefer ICQ, but everyone in Canada uses MSN, so I had to switch.

Is it a matter of opinion whether 64-bit is better? or Is it a fact, if we don't take into account software issues... because thats my real question.. why don't people start developing for 64-bit instead...

[Amourek]

Is it a matter of opinion whether 64-bit is better?

Most programs only run in 32-bit anyway, so there's really no advantage even if you didn't have any driver issues.

why don't people start developing for 64-bit instead...

Catch-22.

[DaFonz]

Is it a matter of opinion whether 64-bit is better? or Is it a fact, if we don't take into account software issues... because thats my real question.. why don't people start developing for 64-bit instead...

Because software supply is demand driven and the customers aren't pining for it.

[RLP06]

Are we not reaching that point where 64-bit is necessary? With the 3gb cap on Vista x86, I see a lot of photoshop users, video editors, etc migrating to the 64-bit... I haven't myself... but it seems inevitable

[Kasakato]

Are we not reaching that point where 64-bit is necessary? With the 3gb cap on Vista x86, I see a lot of photoshop users, video editors, etc migrating to the 64-bit... I haven't myself... but it seems inevitable

Because the general population are not PS users. These days not to many people need more than 3GB of ram, Once a newer OS comes out, 64bit will become more viable, give it a few more years.

[matkun]

Software simply. If you write a 64-bit native application, it either run slower in 32-bit mode, or not run in 32-bit at all. Oh, and 90% of your customers are still on 32-bit. What would you do?

It just makes business sense to write in 32-bit.

[rogeryen]

Same goes for IM clients. I HATE!!! MSN. It is crap. I much prefer ICQ, but everyone in Canada uses MSN, so I had to switch.

Hmmm if I remembered correctly....ICQ was basically used by EVERYONE...in around 1997 that is.
I don't remember when or why I switched over to MSN....but as ICQ went into higher versions, its file size got bigger and bigger, kinda like Netscape....not a tiny little program I like anymore.

[Desolatax]

Software in general is not there yet to be completely 64 bit, the only true 64-bit programs are all professional development software (ie photoshop) and games, but even those don't take full advantage of the 64-bit architecture.

The next Windows release will probably kick 64-bit off, or if Apple brings Leopard to non-Mac's, but that ain't gonna happen.

[Khrak]

Are we not reaching that point where 64-bit is necessary? With the 3gb cap on Vista x86, I see a lot of photoshop users, video editors, etc migrating to the 64-bit... I haven't myself... but it seems inevitable

the 4GB addressing limits of 32 bit systems doesn't effect 95% of users yet. The 64-bit hardware must be massively in place before programs can be written exclusively for 64-bits. For now, new hardware is 64-bit capable and new software is 32-bit. In 5 years when 95% of hardware is 64-bit capable, programmers can write exclusively for 64-bit systems.