Mozilla to continue 64-bit Firefox development for Windows

What's the point to keep it alive just to keep it alive. If it's bad it's not needed, 64bit should be native now, but noo, let keep it to have an alternative. Users even the majority aren't right always. They might complain in both ways.

 

It's just a PR move, nothing more.

 

All those decisions he made would be logical for the end of the product cycle of the 32-bit version. Let someone tell him 32-bit is outdated. Not 64.

 

Plug ins are getting in the way for 64bit browser adoption.

 

It's a joke that that 64 bit hasn't been the standard for everything for years now. Especially on one of the most popular browsers. The only reason I don't use the 64 bit version is because my plugins simply don't have 64 bit support. The plugins are probably the only reason I'm still using Firefox.

 

You can blame Windows for that. Windows is the only OS that has struggled to get into 64 bit and even today it's still the worst 64 bit choice due to things like memory limitations and poor maintenance of system resources. I was pissed about Mozilla dropping their 64 bit support because 64 bit Windows is finally catching up and they almost ruined it. Things like plugins won't get ported if there aren't enough users.


Anyways, there are seriously people who use hundreds or even thousands of tabs at a time? Unless you're benchmarking, that sounds incredibly counterproductive in just about every field.

 

i never saw a difference between 32 bit and 64 bit exe's so no biggy, All though i do wonder are current gen consoles 64bit or 32 bit? cause honestly software been lagging behind tech of the pc for long time, and I have always blamed it on Consoles and Developers for this.

Plugins its customizing are the only reason i use FF at this point , i refuse to touch IE and i dont like Chrome but the later 2 are definitely much faster then FF.

I think after FF realize the where best back with 3.x they decided to ride the notion that they are still the best. and they are not atlest not anymore.

 

Adobe Flash Player, Java and Silverlight are already 64-bit capable. Not sure what else needs to be 64-bit capable... unless the person uses a crap ton of plugins, 64-bit is the way to go.

This is no different than migrating Windows from 32-bit to 64-bit. There's always going to be transitional pains but without it, you can't move forward.

deltatux

 

That's good to hear. Firefox 64 might not have a huge impact right now but at least it'll keep development going, which saves a lot of hassle and catch-up for Mozilla later on if 64 bit ever becomes standard (big emphasis on "if").

 

Probably proprietary stuff which most of us don't use.

 

there isn't an if. It will become standard. But if devs keep being so standoffish they are going to make it much harder to migrate over.

 

More 64bit programs (of any type) is a good thing for all of us. It means people are working on, thinking about, and planning for it more in the future.

I was really hoping MS would kill of 32bit with 8...here's to hoping they manage it next go 'round...

 

@tsunami
Consoles shouldn't have anything to do with it. This isn't like converting DX and OpenGL, the software needs to be recompiled on another CPU architecture and OS platform so they can shoot for 64 bit from the very beginning. Besides, I'm pretty sure ps3 uses a 64 bit CPU, I'm not sure about other consoles though.

@deltatux
I think he was talking about extensions.

 

Part of the problem is all these "tech professionals" and "analysts" screaming that the desktop market is dying and the world is transitioning to mobile. The mobile market is still 32bit and is only now starting to migrate towards 64bit. What reason do developers have to push 64bit on PC when "analysts" are screaming that the desktop market is dying?

In regards to Firefox, they've never released a final build of a 64bit browser....only "nightly" builds that tend to be buggy as hell. They seem scared to commit to a 64bit code path. At this point, personally, I've lost all interest in Firefox. I use IE and Waterfox and occasionally use IceDragon. Until Mozilla gets serious about releasing a proper 64bit browser, I have no need for Firefox itself.

 

i just assumed everything was 64bit...i mean it's been what, 7 years since 64bit cpu's went mainstream?

 

Unfortunately most things are 32-bit. It's pretty poor when you consider the original Far Cry and Crysis 1 came in 64-bit versions, but almost all games since haven't.

The 32-bit remained mainstream because that's what most systems were. When Vista came out, most people opted for the 32-bit version. When Windows 7 came out, people were opting for the 32-bit version (and in fact, most companies like Dell and HP sold computers with 32-bit Windows 7), despite having 4GB of RAM etc. Actually it was pretty 'funny' seeing some 'brand name' computers like HP and Dell selling with 8GB RAM options and 32-bit Windows 7...

Simple fact is, Microsoft should never have sold Windows 7 in 32-bit, and definitely not Windows 8. If a computer can't run 64-bit, it shouldn't be running Windows 7/8 anyway

The few low end processors (some Intel Atom etc) that were 32-bit only, were only 32-bit only because there were 32-bit versions of Windows available. In terms of games, it was this, and also because of the indirect limitations imposed by consoles.

For programs, most programmers have just been lazy, and for a long time many hardware manufacturers were too lazy to make 64-bit drivers for hardware etc.

 

Basically, 64bit won't truly be mainstream....until consoles and mobile devices go 64bit....and they won't be using 86x64....

 

Before I start, long time reader but first time poster

I guess Windows 64bit market share is still not high enough? If you look at Steam Survey, all 64bit Windows represent about 70% market share (on steam only but it give a good idea of the real marketshare imo) and 58% alone come from Windows 7 x64.

Win7 helped a lot to bring 64bit on the map, most PC users are 64bit ready now. I know it all started when the Athlon 64 was released but imo the real boom was when Win7 got released. At work we always sell Win7-x64 and we only sell the 32 bit version if the client specifically ask for it (which is very rare these days).

Also, 64bit games and apps are DEFINITELY faster, frame rate is much better in games and apps simply process their thing faster.

As for Firefox, I don't really mind since I use Waterfox but it would help push things if Firefox (or Mozilla?) decided to fully support Firefox64.

 

You can't really use Steam as an example. Steam is for gamers only and PC gamers mostly have 64bit OS just because of the 4gb limit of 32bit OS.

Gamers only make up a tiny percent of Desktop users.