Will OS X ever become true 64 bit?

altivec_2.0altivec_2.0
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
a true 64-bit operating system. What would that require? I'm not a software engineer, But I would think the OS would almost all have to be rewritten, yes? Would having a true 64-bit OS would increase performance?



But then if it ever did become 64 bit, they would also have to supply a 32 bit version for all the G4 guys/girls, out there.....Worth it for apple to develop two versions of a OS?



Post your thoughts.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Amorph, Kickaha, Programmer or one of the other code flingers will fill you in more but from what I see.



    OSX Tiger is already over half there. We'll have 64bit libraries that run 64bit processes. The kernel however is still 32bit so that means drivers are still limited to 2GB partitions or less I believe. Shouldn't affect most developers since 2GB is damn large for kernel operations.



    The thing that matters most, memory addressing, is fine so we should finally see some apps able to recognize and use more than 4GB.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    talksense101talksense101 Posts: 1,738member
    Tiger apparently has a 64bit incarnation. For developers, Apple offers dual packaging facility. You can ship one installer program which will detect 64bit or 32bit environment and install the correct binary.



    Getting people to go 64 bit is a hard task. But Apple managed to port OS-9 folks to OS-X, so I think they will pull it through.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    hypoluxahypoluxa Posts: 694member
    so tiger is still not a "true" 64 bit? what abou the G5 processor is that a true 64 bit chip? from what Ive been reading it sounds like the G5 isin't, even though its being marketed as such. or am I waaay wrong? what about the rest of the chip manufacturers out there, are their chips true 64 bit?
  • Reply 4 of 8
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hypoluxa

    so tiger is still not a "true" 64 bit? what abou the G5 processor is that a true 64 bit chip? from what Ive been reading it sounds like the G5 isin't, even though its being marketed as such. or am I waaay wrong? what about the rest of the chip manufacturers out there, are their chips true 64 bit?



    The G5 is far more of a 64bit chip than the Opteron or Athlon64 chips. While the 32-bit G4 had been tweaked with a 36-bit memory addressing mode (giving a theoretical 64GB rather than 4GB memory ceiling), the 970 can handle more memory than any Power Mac G5 owners are likely to install. The processor matches its 64-bit data path width with a 64-bit virtual memory-address range -- supporting a mind-blowing 18 exabytes or 18 million terabytes -- along with a more than ample 42-bit or 4TB real address range. (By contrast, AMD's Opteron has a 48-bit virtual and 40-bit physical address space.)source: cpuplanet.com



    Thus the Althon64 and Opteron chips support a maximum terabyte of memory. 18 million times less than the 970. Of course that is all superfluous but remember than when Athloons start yapping about what constitutes 64bit.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    hypoluxahypoluxa Posts: 694member
    So I guess my next question would be, what would make a supposed 64 bit chip a true 64 bit?
  • Reply 6 of 8
    talksense101talksense101 Posts: 1,738member
    Read Amorph's post in this thread.



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...ighlight=64bit
  • Reply 7 of 8
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    Not this again.



    The G5 is "64-bit enough".



    Tiger is "64-bit enough".



    The rest does not matter.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    ionyzionyz Posts: 491member
    True 64-bit, for everything, is slow. On platforms that have run 64-bit for years (SGI IRIX) many apps remain 32-bit. If the app doesn't need the extra bits it runs (faster, more then likely) in 32-bit.
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