64 bit Flash Now working in 64 bit Browsers !

[John Phoenix]

Adobe labs has released a pre release build of the new Adobe Flash Player with native 64 bit support.

Firefox has stable 64 bit builds called Minefield. - they work great together!

I have been waiting for 2 years for this to happen and now it looks like I can finally switch all my 32 bit apps to 64 bit.

For all those wanting a Firefox 64 bit browser with flash Now you have it! But they also have versions of the plugin for IE and "Other Browsers" - as soon as Opera and Chrome comes out with a stable 64 bit browser, this plugin will work with them too.

(both the firefox version (called minefield) and the Adobe flash player plugin are pre releases of final versions for testing purposes)

I use the 4.08pre 64 bit Firefox with the Adobe Flash Player plugin. You can get this from the Nightly Builds page here: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/nightly/latest-mozilla-central/

Look for this file name towards the bottom of the page " firefox-4.0b8pre.en-US.win64-x86_64.installer.exe "

Get the new Adobe flash player plugin with 64 bit support here: http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html

Look for the file under the 64 bit section called " Download plug-in for 64-bit Windows — for all other browsers"

Of course if your an Internet Explorer kind of person you can get that version too. look for file called: "Download active-x for 64-bit Windows — for Internet Explorer only"

I have tested these with You Tube and Hulu and they work just fine.

( I searched and didn't find a topic on this already. If I missed it I apologize)

 

[qubit]

It's nice to see some progress being made with 64-bit browsers. However, I'm wondering what performance benefits they could possibly bring? As far as I can see, a 64-bit browser will work just the same as the 32-bit version.

 

[John Phoenix]

It's nice to see some progress being made with 64-bit browsers. However, I'm wondering what performance benefits they could possibly bring? As far as I can see, a 64-bit browser will work just the same as the 32-bit version.

Ah.. that's the question.. seems people collectively have short memories.

Back in the late 90's when all people had was 16 bit machines they thought they were doing o.k. Then they started coming out with 32 bit machines and no one wanted to use those outdated 16 bit applications anymore. Sure, they would work and it would seem to you that they worked just fine. But the problem was they were not taking full advantage of the new 32 bit hardware in the system.

A 64 bit app on a 64 bit machine is faster better optimized and uses less CPU. Microsoft puts it this way:

"The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer's processor (also called a CPU), handles information. The 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system"

So, you make the system run much more efficiently making things run faster and more stable than before. If you have a 64 bit machine, every single app in your system Should be 64 bit for best performance results. This is where you get the increase. You won't notice it much with a single application, but you will when the over all system is 64 bit optimized.

Many apps like games do not come 64 bit yet but if all of your system critical apps are then you know your system will perform at it's best. For me this means all utilities and apps I use on a regular basis must be 64 bit.

If you have 32 bit apps running less efficiently this can cause slow downs in your system and eat up precious CPU that's needed elsewhere.

Think of the diameter of a garden hose being rated for 64 bit. If you send half the volume say 32 bits of water flow through the hose you are only using half the capacity of the hose. The other half that's not running water - the air space - is wasted resources that could be put to use.

Hey, my explanations could be a lil off but that's how it was told to me, so if I'm wrong I accept criticisms.