Re: Snow Leopard: A 64-bit Observation

"Daniel Johnson" <danieljohnson2@xxxxxxxxxxx> stated in post
OJudnWrhSbuZpZPUnZ2dnUVZ_ovinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on 11/2/08 4:30 PM:

"Snit" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C53367D5.DDD4B%usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Daniel Johnson" <danieljohnson2@xxxxxxxxxxx> stated in post
CZSdnenUoNRZY5DUnZ2dnUVZ_g6dnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on 11/2/08 12:25 PM:

Oh God, "underpinnings".

The OS X kernel is Mach; the userspace is largely Apple's own, but some
Unixy
utilities are included.

The Aqua UI does not depend on "Unix" in any sense that matters.

Aqua apps are scheduled via the Unixy goodness... and all that stuff.

They are scheduled by Mach.

I admit to not knowing how Mach is different from other Unix (or Unix like)
kernels. I recall it has something to do with how it passes info from one
process to another... I think. I guess if I cared enough I could Google it.

But in Apple's marketing, "Unix" is the name for the magical pixie dust that
makes OS X more stable and secure than Windows. Don't fall for that sort of
flim-flam.

Oh, OS X's memory management has always seems so-so to me... magical pixie
dust or not.

Memory management?

I have 4 GB of memory. Should be fine, even when I am running Windows in
virtualization. And it is... until my *inactive* memory gets real full...
then there is a definite slow down, at least with some things. It should be
trivial to empty that memory as needed, right? Seems OS X struggles with
that, at least in some cases.

[snip]
For another, those people who are using the ever popular Carbon
applications.

Still able to use 64 bit goodness... just not for the UI. Carbon apps can
have Cocoa UIs... I think.

That's what we call a "Cocoa application"; it's quite typical for them to have
to turn to Carbon here and there.

Yes, the distinction is not that clear which is what.

Even users with a 64-bit CPU *and* Leopard *and* who use Cocoa apps don't
get much ability to use 64-bit apps: those apps pretty much just don't
exist. On Windows, they are still the exception- but they do exist.

I have shown you some running on my Mac. Now. Personal web sharing... not
that the 64 bit goodness of it does anything for me other than makes my heart
swell with pride to be using an OS that handles 64 bit programs... :)

If I recall right, that was Apache.

Yes.

[snip]
Ok, so none running, but if I do a command, one I got from some arbitrary
web page so I am sure it is fine to run in the terminal, I get this list
of
apps:

/Applications/Chess.app/Contents/MacOS/Chess
[snip- various minor utilities and such]

That list really spoke for itself.

What about third party apps?

You got the full list of the ones on my system, at least as far as I know.

I have not played Chess in some time, but I am going to play a game *just*
to see if I can beat a 64 bit program! How would you do that on 32 bit
Windows? Can it even play chess on anything more than half a chess board!
I bet it has to make each bit watch *two* squares. How... antiquated.

:)

Windows Vista 64-bit does, in fact, come with a 64-bit version of "Chess
Titans". So there. :D

Yeah, but on 32 bit Windows each bit has to watch *two* squares! How
pathetic! :)

You *can* have 64-bit Photoshop on Windows, today. 64-bit Maya as well. On
the Mac, not.

Is that just 64 bit Windows or the general version, too?

I'm afraid this will no longer fly. The figure MS has released demonstrate
that 64-bit Windows *is* a 'general version'; shipping to consumers off the
shelf, right now, in quantity.

[snip] This disparity is what leads me to say that Windows is ahead in the
64-bit transition- and it leads Apple-fans to say that 64-bit support isn't
much good anyway. :D

With OS X you can get 64 bit apps without needing to get a special or
different version of the OS. And your drivers still work. This is not
ideal, as the drivers are 32 bit, but it does make things easier for the
user. Then again, how many users need 64 bit programs (except for needing
to look at all the squares!)

For Photoshop it clearly can, at least in some situations, matter.

Well, that's not an admission I expected to get from you, I may say. :/

Especially with Photoshop working more and more with video and 3D objects it
may matter a lot more than I had anticipated. And even though Adobe has
been kind, publicly, to Apple, I still think Apple made a mistake in
changing their story on 64 bit Carbon. There might be good reason for this
- the nature of tech is sometimes you get into a complex project and you
realize there are alternative ways which are better in the long run, but
that does not mean it was not a mistake.



--
Picture of a tuna milkshake: http://snipurl.com/f34z
Feel free to ask for the recipe.



.

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