When will there be a 64-bit version of Avast! ?

Yes, it is not possible to run 16bit programs (DOS or Win3.1 apps) anymore in Win64. I guess Microsoft had enough to do to implement WOW (Windows 32 on Windows 64), so making it WOWOW would be probably too much. :wink:
No idea about Vista, I’m afraid.

I all for a 64-bit version like it was before, in the same installer we had the 32 & 64-bit versions. I think is good for the foolowing reasons:

  • 64-bit is the way to go because is the future of software, 64-bit versions of many programs are released.
  • 32-bit software executes a little faster on a 64-bit CPU & OS that in 32-bit mode, but WOW64 kills the performance gain, so the effective performance is practically the same as the the 32-bit software on a 32-bit CPU & OS combo, so if 32-bit software run a little faster on a 64-bit CPU & OS combo, 64-bit software will run much faster for the following reasons:
    • 64-bit software processes twice the data at almost no cycles penalty per 64-bit machine instruction sent to the 64-bit CPU, AMD at
      least has made this VERY clear.
    • You don’t use WOW64 so you gain back the lost performance with 32-bit software, you get native, full-speed interface with the 64-bit OS
      & drivers.

So Intel and specially AMD has focused on developing a mature 64-bit capability in hardware, so all the MoBos & devices manufactures so we can use a wider range of resources at fasters speeds, so why some software vendors deny this technology and advantages? too used to their comfort zone?

No…they have a broad audience to serve, with limited resources. They have to balance what is most cost-effective for both them and the customer.

Nope. Sure, the registers are twice as big, but most algorithms cannot take advantage of that anyway, so the size of the registers doesn’t matter [if you’re somewhere and want to get somewhere else by car, preferably as soon as possible - it doesn’t matter if your car is twice as big now, it won’t get you to your destination any faster; on contrary, you might actually be a bit slower with the bigger car, which is exactly the case here.]
And, if the particular algorithm is of the nature where wider registers help, there are already better technologies out there (SSE - with 128bit registers, available even in 32bit mode).

Because you only think that you’d get any speed benefit automatically - but the reality is often different.
Sure, 64bit is the way to go if you need to work with large data and take advantage of >4GB memory - image/video processing software, for example. But for most software, there’s no significant benefit.

It doesn’t, because it’s a 16bit program (technically speaking).

Sorry, but Microsoft Security Essentials and Hitman Pro both work in pure 64-bit mode.