State of the 64bit?

[Liam Proven]

On 26 August 2010 03:02, Calcpage <calcpage at aol.com> wrote:
>
>> On 26 August 2010 01:25, Avi Schwartz
>> <ubuntu-users352 at cfftechnologies.com> wrote:
>>> I am currently running 10.04 in with a 32bit kernel on my Dell Studio
>>> XPS 16 laptop but I am considering switching to 64bit mainly
>>> because my
>>> machine has 8GB RAM of which the 32bit version sees only 3GB.
>>>
>>> Few years ago I tried running 64bit but found the experience
>>> lacking to
>>> put it mildly for a desktop. There were issues with Java, Flash and
>>> other proprietary software.
>>>
>>> My question is whether the 64bit situation has improved? I know
>>> there is
>>> currently no 64bit version of flash for Linux (if there will ever be)
>>> but will the 32bit version run reasonably well in a 64bit
>>> environment?
>>> Good enough for YouTube, Hulu, etc? What about the ATI driver (the
>>> proprietary one)? Any other issues I need to take into consideration
>>> while making the decision?
>>
>> I went 64-bit with 9.10. It was fine. A few glitches with Flash in
>> some sites and in Chrome, but it worked.
>>
>> 10.04 is better still and has removed those glitches. Flash and Java
>> work fine in Chrome, Seamonkey and Firefox, on YouTube, Break,
>> DailyMotion, etc. etc. Quicktime playback on Apple.com works and
>> everything.
>>
>> Just do it. You will barely notice any difference. The only problem
>> I've found was running Spotify on WINE, which works on 32-bit but not
>> on 64-bit. So I run it in a TinyXP VM under Virtualbox. Results are
>> perfect.

> Wow, how did you get Flash to work on Ubuntu 10.04, or WINE for that
> mater?

No special measures necessary. I installed the usual batch of binary
bits & bobs - ubuntu-restricted-extras, enabled Medibuntu, loaded
Skype, W64Codecs, LibDVDCSS2, Sun Java 6, Skype.

Flash worked fine then but sometimes I could not click on a video to
play it. I found that keyboard controls worked fine, though. Click on
the video to select it, then use the normal standard keyboard
navigation controls... Tab to go to next control, Shift-Tab to go
back, Space to activate. Controlling the volume this way is tricky but
then there is a system volume control for that.

However, I found a patch for this that worked around it and now
clicking with the mouse is fine. I was told of it on this list.

WINE just installed and worked first time. Smaller stuff like
IrfanView and the reader for an old online community I still use just
worked, straight off. Spotify runs, lets me control it and plays, but
after a few sec, playback dissolves into static and crackles then
silence. After that it needs a reboot to work again.

So I installed VirtualBox - the full version, from VirtualBox.org, not
the cut-down OSE in the repositories - and installed TinyXP r9 (from
Bittorrent) in its Bare option. The VM uses 512MB of RAM of which
TinyXP needs just 70MB or so, fully patched with IE8 and antivirus.


> I think I got both working in 32bit which I tried first when I
> got 64bit PCs.  Then I switched to 64bit Ubuntu and all is well but
> Flash and WINE....

What sort of WINE problems are you having?


-- 
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