should we expect 64 bit WIndows Phones very soon??? from the NT kernel??

[LastBattle]

Can Current wp8 be ported to 64?

Current Qualcomm processor doesn't support 64 bit.
Its just like 32 bit Windows that can't run on 64 bit, UNLESS the Intel processor supports it.

 

[awilliams1701]

It depends on the application. World of Warcraft crashes if it exceedes the 2GB memory barrier. I've seen a few programs that were 32 bit that were over 2, but under 4. I also found a program that can force start an application to support the full 4GB range. I've even seen a patch for Skyrim that basically makes that 4GB mode permanent.

No you can't. 32-bit apps are still running inside WoW64 VM that limits apps to around 2GB of memory access normally and with specially flag when compiled, able to access < 3GB of RAM max. But since OS is 64-bit, you will be able to load more 32-bit apps at the same time.

 

[foxbat121]

It depends on the application. World of Warcraft crashes if it exceedes the 2GB memory barrier. I've seen a few programs that were 32 bit that were over 2, but under 4. I also found a program that can force start an application to support the full 4GB range. I've even seen a patch for Skyrim that basically makes that 4GB mode permanent.

No, it can't. See Microsoft's publication. 3GB is what you can get for max with a special flag. You will have to leave the last 1GB for OS.

Read this http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx

 

[awilliams1701]

Actually your link proves my case. Look in the first table, first entry: User-mode virtual address space for each 32-bit process. The look under the 64 bit OS column. It says:
2 GB with IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE cleared (default)

4 GB with IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE set

If you look in the 32 bit OS column, it says 3GB (which is what you said), but we aren't talking 32 bit os we're talking 64 bit.

No, it can't. See Microsoft's publication. 3GB is what you can get for max with a special flag. You will have to leave the last 1GB for OS.

Read this Memory Limits for Windows Releases (Windows)

 

[foxbat121]

Sorry, missed that.

 

[boovish]

There is no way the iPhone 5S has 4GBs, but it still runs a 64 bit architecture, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[jmshub]

64 bit gives twice the register space. The only thing that a smartphone does really needs this type of register size is encryption math. Other than that, a 64 bit processor won't provide screaming performance numbers, and stands to be potentially more power hungry.

 

[dv220s]

"There is no need..." You can keep saying that but the iPhone 5S has proven that statement wrong. The benchmarks are showing performance levels that destroy the Tegra 4 and match the 800. Don't even get me started on AES/SHA1-they're getting 800% increases there. 64bit by itself may not give a massive all around increase but ARMv8 and AArch64/32 has serious improvements otherwise.

 

[a5cent]

Can Current wp8 be ported to 64?

Any software can be ported to any hardware. Software is very flexible in that regard. So yes, it can be ported. However, it is far more likely that nothing needs to be ported at all. I'd bet that WP8 can already be compiled to both 32bit and 64bit variants just like W8 can.

I haven't read the spec on 64bit ARM, so MS might have to do some work so we can still run native 32bit apps on a 64bit CPU and under a 64bit OS, but that would be the worst case scenario.

Having a 64-bit bus will lead to better throughput, it's not about having > 4GB RAM. Apple ahead of the curve as usual on things that matter.

Have you measured where and when that type of processing is required on a smartphone CPU? It's completely irrelevant. Such workloads do exist, but these days they are handled completely by the GPU. Just in terms of general computing theory you are correct, but it doesn't apply to smartphones. The wider data bus isn't an argument.

Some think the wider CPU registers might be an argument, but until we start to use our smartphones to do fluid simulations, virtual crash tests and particle physics (applications that require very high levels of mathematical real-number precision), that argument is just as irrelevant.

I've seen instances where 32bit software that was compiled to a 64bit variant ended up performing slightly worse. I expect that to apply to practically all of the apps in Apple's app store if they were ported over.

I expect that almost no iPhone apps will be ported over to 64bits. Almost all iPhone apps will remain 32bit apps for the foreseeable future, and the whole kerfuffle about it will quickly be forgotten.

I don't know what Apple was thinking, but I'd bet 64bit iOS has absolutely nothing to do with the iPhone, and everything to do with the next generation of iPads, where I imagine it would be about addressing memory beyond the 4GB range.

 

[Mixa Case]

I hope at least they sees how potentially important is this, IOS is onto something to change their os to 64 bits, wp is my personal fav phone, but in reality I gotta say Apple very likely going to shock us again with their next installment, or may be it's even undergoing on the next version IOS. who knows.

The thing is technology always moving up and you always need faster chip to run the awsome ideas. I hope they're really working on that already.. so may be one day the phone could capture a better portion of the market.

 

[AR2186]

What about the new Intel atom (silvermont) processors? We may see those pop up in Windows phones before you know it, and the new Atoms are 64bit. We'll probably have to wait for 8.1 or whenever they unify Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone

 

[a5cent]

What about the new Intel atom (silvermont) processors? We may see those pop up in Windows phones before you know it, and the new Atoms are 64bit. We'll probably have to wait for 8.1 or whenever they unify Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone

No. Unification of any of the OS' you mentioned has absolutely nothing to do with processor support. WP already runs fine using an ARM or an x86 instruction set. That is handled completely and entirely by the kernel. The big porting efforts are not related to the CPU, but to all the co processors on the SoC (media processors, DSPs, etc) and the GPU. In all likelihood, getting WP to run on Merrifield (Silvermont based SoC) is probably no more complicated than getting WP to run on any other new ARM SoC.

So, while switching to Intel Merrifield (or its successor) is feasible, it wouldn't happen anytime soon. MS is in the process of introducing a new hardware chassis spec right now, and the next change isn't up for about another year, because MS rightly wants to introduce as little hardware fragmentation to the ecosystem as possible. However, by this time next year, Qualcomm will have released their own 64bit ARM CPUs, and I think that is the more likely path for MS to take, particularly since native apps (mostly games) wouldn't be compatible with Intel's x86 SoCs.

MS will only switch back to Intel SoCs if they provide a notable advantage over ARM and currently that doesn't seem to be the case. Two years from now, yeah, could be different, but that would have nothing to do with 64 bits vs. 32 bits.

 

[AR2186]

I think it does, because Windows Phone 8.1 is likely a lot closer to Windows RT than Windows Phone 8 is (my guess is WP8.1 is Windows RT with WP GUI plus phone components). Since Windows RT 8.1 IS Windows 8.1 compiled for ARM (and additional desktop installation block), you could easily handle an Intel chip by using a Windows 8.1 "image", with the WP GUI on top and phone components. You would only need the drivers, which will already be created for tablets.

The only reason for the delayed release of WP 8.1 (that makes sense to me at least) is because they are take RT 8.1 and using the WP GUI and a translator to have "legacy WP8" apps work. The GDR spring update for RT and 8.1 is said to unify the app stores, which only makes sense if you can run the phone apps in WinRT.

 

[T Moore]

With the amount of phone ram there is no benefit in a 64 bit processor is there?

 

[AR2186]

With the amount of phone ram there is no benefit in a 64 bit processor is there?

the idea that 64bit is just about addressable ram above ~4gb is false, 64bit is also more accurate with calculations, among other things. Do we need it on a phone, probably not, but its not just about RAM.

 

[Angry_Mushroom]

I don't see 64-bit anytime in the near future. For the time being 32-bit is more than enough.

 

[karlo88]

I have a Lumia 1020. If 64 bit makes it faster, I would like it. I find that opening PDF files and working with Office files is sluggish.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

I have a Lumia 1020. If 64 bit makes it faster, I would like it. I find that opening PDF files and working with Office files is sluggish.

64-bit wouldn't help out an existing device.

 

[cghjyjy]

People seem to forget that 64bit actually slowed things down when it first came to PCs.. because apps are bigger so take longer to load, and for all the extra registers you add for 64bit support, 32bit apps can use them to make those run more efficiently.

 

[hexafluoride]

Contrary to popular belief:

1) The primary benefit of 64 bit processors isn't the ability to address more than 4GB of RAM, it's the additional registers(2x more and 2x wider than the 32-bit Cortex implementations currently in market) that the 64-bit ARM specifications require.

2) Every app won't need to be recoded to take advantage of this, the runtime can be modified(NOT rewritten) to take advantage of the additional wide registers, speeding up nearly all calculations.

Stop spreading disinfo.