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…a new operating system.

Here’s how I think about 32 vs. 64 bit: supporting both 32 and 64 bit ABIs in X-Plane is like supporting Mac and Windows.  It means a little bit more work for programmers to cover more executable types but it lets users get more out of X-Plane and add-ons on a wider variety of hardware.

We’re not switch from 32 to 64-bit.  We’re adding 64-bit native execution to our list of supported configurations.  (Linux nerds have been asking us for this for years! 🙂

So I view the question of “when will my add-ons support 64-bit” as similar to “when will they support a different OS.”  It will come with time, but no one is dropping the existing setup.

Developers don’t have the choice to pick 32 or 64 bits; the question is whether to extend support to 64 bits.

Did any plugin developers drop Windows support when they ported their plugins to Linux?  I am guessing no.  And I am guessing that 64-bits will be the same way.

This is already covered in the X-Plane 64-bit FAQ, but at a minimum we will maintain 32-bit support all the way through the v10 run.  My guess is 32-bits will be around for the next major version too, but we’ll figure out those system requirements when the time comes.

BTW: beta 2 is out.  Mac users, you have keyboards and mice again.  (The bug only happened when you start the sim in full-screen mode.)  Windows users, no spinning balls.  And GeForce 200 users, your shaders compile.  So at a minimum most of the face-palm bugs from beta 1 are fixed.

About Ben Supnik

Ben is a software engineer who works on X-Plane; he spends most of his days drinking coffee and swearing at the computer -- sometimes at the same time.

17 comments on “64-Bit Is Like…”

  1. Hi,

    Nice work on 64 bit!
    As Linux user I must admit that 10.20b1 was real success!!! Everything worked like charm. Performance was really good and I also experienced fps increase compared to 10.10.(Everything maxed, I got approx 30-40 fps on HDR FXAAx4).
    Unfortunately, 10.20b2 did not bring anything good to me and I experienced halving of fps with same settings. 15-20fps on 10.20b2.

    My config:
    Latest Nvidia Linux drivers for GTX580
    Intel i7-3930k
    64Gb RAM
    OS: CentOS 6.3

    Regards,
    Nenad

    1. Hi!

      In Ubuntu 12.04 @64 I noticed than X-Plane 10.** (all versions) runs strange in fps. In the same airport, same plane, same weather, same options, I saw 29-30 fps in first x-plane execution. I close it, use WED, close WED, re-run X-Plane and then, 23-24 fps. Another execution, 19-20 fps…

      …sixth or seventh x-plane execution, about 9-10 fps. Why? I don’t know. Maybe Ubuntu, maybe Unity, maybe nVidia drivers (310.19 at this time), maybe X-Plane…

      If I want to fly, I reboot computer and cross fingers 😀

  2. Hello Ben, when will be recompiled xsquawkbox for use with 64bit xplane? I tried to find developer if this plugin and on xsb site is your name, then use this way to contact you. Thans. Peter

    1. I have no idea. Wade and I are the authors of XSB, and neither of us have any time. So it could be a very long time. Maybe Wade and I can find a new developer to help us get the port done sooner.

      1. Might be a bit outside of my level of expertise, but I’d be willing to take a look and see if I can give this a shot as there are a few other fixes I was looking to see if I could contribute. Checking on the plugin’s site, I’m seeing the multiplayer source seems to still be offline (has been since the move to WordPress, I believe)?

        Any direction on where to start here would be most helpful.

        1. Mike,

          Although I would not be able to help at all, you would have my absolute support in this. I have only just gotten on board with VATSIM. Flying online seems to be the next stage for me, but it would be a great shame if I had to stick to an old version of x-plane (in the future) to enable this.

          I’m sure there are many others in the same boat too.

          1. Agreed. I fly almost exclusively on VATSIM and I’m a controller on there as well – getting this working again and possibly adding some improvements would only help both communities.

          2. It would be very disappointing if xsb were not moved 64bit for any length of time. Could there be encouragement to help someone to take this task on? I would gladly make a financial contribution.

          3. I’m not sure if VATSIM developers are barred from taking money.

            Honestly, the most useful thing would be for VATSIM to loosen their restrictions on development. The fact that Wade and I have to get anyone who works on the code ‘registered’ is a giant PITA.

  3. Hey Ben,

    I noticed theres two Mega Planes folders inside the aircraft folder of X-Plane when updating.
    Mega-Planes Mega-Planes! Both contain the B-52 & SR-71

  4. Alright, I figured that but wanted to make sure before I cause a issue with the files

    Thanks , and will do if so.

  5. Just curious, why did you decide to make the 64-bit binary the default executable (X-Plane.exe)? Is this merely for testing, or is the 64-bit version going to be the default executable from here on out?

    1. We believe that in the long term the 64-bit version will become the default. Already most of our users are on 64-bit capable operating systems, so we figured by setting the names up this way now we won’t have to go through a second round of confusion when we change the names later.

  6. Found my self having more Nvidia display driver failour when using the 64bit version
    Hopefully there is not an XPX issue, but nevertheless a fix for this is to edit the register on Windows 7

    Look for this
    HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers.

    Change TdrDelay: REG_DWORD to 8
    Default is 2

    This will allow your GPU to render more scenery before it dies (blackscreen of death. and error message below)

    http://i.msdn.microsoft.com/gg487368.wddm_timeout(en-us,MSDN.10).gif

  7. Hi Ben

    No offence but I bought xplane with the specific purpose of having a better sim and flyuing on VATSIM was a major reason for the expenditure hearing you say that your not going to 64bit Xsquawkbox is a massive dissapointment. As it wil be to countless hundreds of xplane users. I know your busy but I really think you should reconsider.

    You will ultimately hurt Xplane itself by neglecting your addon and force many of us back to FSX.

    As a member of VATSIM since 2005 I can say with some certain knowledge that any effort made by yourself would be morethan appreciated.

    Wycliffe

    1. Hi Wycliffe,

      Please see my post on xsquawkbox.net re: 64-bit. I do not have time to deal with XSB anytime soon myself, but I also have no desire to ‘take my ball and go home’ – it doesn’t have to be “my add-on” – in fact, the most recent versions are really “Wade’s” add-on because he did all of the heavy lifting.

      Unfortunately, VATSIM policy prohibits me from simply posting the entire plugin and going “anyone who wants, take a swing.”

      But I was able to identify at least two development tasks that developers can take on _now_, without even having to do any VATSIM NDA/registration stuff, that will advance progress toward a 64-bit XSB. The code and tasks are already out there and described.

      Cheers
      Ben

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