:)

Saturday, March 22, 2008

X64 and Live Messenger

After a long time, a post:
I have gone through many shifts and changes, done a lot...

but the thing I am going to write about is my new laptop, its Acer travel mate 5520 with AMD Turion 64 bit processor, this architecture is extension of 32 bit, not altogether new technology, so it has 'backward compatibility'. If you install even 32 bit OS on it, it will run fine as if it is 32 bit (Infact many people use 32 bit version of windows on it because they often dont know the power of their AMD64), Thanks to AMD's technology which is also used by Intel.
Microsoft provides 64 bit version for Windows XP. Microsoft calls their versions of OS for 64 bit processors as x64. As the hardware architecture is extension of 32 bit, so OS installed on it can do a lot many things which a 32 bit processor is supposed to do. Microsoft has exploited this feature, they have given us an interface in x64 where we can install and use 32 bit programs: x64 provides a middle layer between assemble layer and software layer which converts programs to 64 bits, you would be thinking that this is emulation, infect its not so. On hardware level its not much different then putting 32bit equilant zero es before every data which is sent into a register - or, if I am wrong, its not much different from this.
Well, I have tried scores of 32 bit programs made using different technologies and frameworks, and they all work fine, but the problem is with only one software: Live Messenger
I gaze and laugh at Microsoft at their bull shit team who made installer for Live Messenger. Live Messenger is made using Microsoft's own tools and those tools would be .net or if they would have de-standardized it (which they often do), they would have made it using something on the lines of .net. The Messenger should work and I find no reason that why shouldn't it work on x64 where all 32 bit softwares including all versions of .net softwares work on x64. The problem is with its installer. As soon as you start the installer, its pops an error, that it can not be installed on x64 architectures, deferring Microsoft's own claim that infers that there is no 32 bit software which can not be installed on x64. Well, once again Microsoft has done what is their legacy.

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