Random Rants & Raves

I've been using Windows Vista Ultimate x64 for quite a while now on my notebook and try to use 64-bit software in most cases as well whenever it's available. For instance, I have the 64-bit versions of all my Dell drivers, .NET 3.5, SQL Server 2008, Virtual PC 2007, Paint.Net, PerfectDisk, Live Mesh, IE7Pro, Daemon Tools, Zune 2.0 and others installed. One of the applications that I use constantly is Internet Explorer 64-bit.

I've found that IE7x64 is much more stable than the 32-version and is also much more responsive. However, there is one issue with it. Plug-ins like Flash and SilverLight (to mention a few) are not compatible with it. To make matters worse, most web sites check only for the browser type and whether the plug-in is install or not. If it's not, they try to install the plug-in. Which means that not only does my machine waste bandwidth by unnecessarily downloading the required CAB file (which cannot install), I also get prompted to install Flash (for instance) every time I try to browse using IE7x64 on such sites.

A solution to this problem is running IE7x64 in the "No Add-ons" mode. This mode disables even trying to load the plug-in, saving time, bandwidth and the irritating popups. You can enable this mode by modifying the shortcut to launch IE7x64 and adding the the -extoff parameter to the end like this:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -extoff

This brings up the window with a message stating that the browser is running without add-ons enabled. If you do not want this message to be displayed every time you launch the browser, you can change the shortcut to add a URL at the end of the previous like to look like this:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -extoff about:blank

Of course, you can replace the "about:blank: with a URL of your choice as well.

When you now browse a site having a plug-in, you will see a non-intrusive yellow information bar on top that reminds you that you are not seeing everything that is there on the page, but believe me, the page loads extremely fast due to this. Javascript and Ajax continue to work fine - it's only 3rd party add-ons that are affected and makes for a much better browsing experience.

Of course, if you do need to use these plug-ins, you will need to keep a 32-bit browser handy as well - at least till the time that the plug-in developers release 64-bit editions of their products.

I might be one of those very few people who do not have an alternate browser installed on my machine. I use Internet Explorer exclusively and have been quite happy with its performance and stability especially in Windows Vista. However, ever since I switched over to Vista x64, I've been strange, intermittent problems with it. Sometimes the browser just freezes for a fairly long time wheile loading certain Web pages. Although it starts responding in a while, it does become irritating.

This is where my new alternate browser comes in. This is Internet Explorer 7.0 (64-bit). IE64 has been fantastically stable and super-duper fast in both loading and rendering pages. There are only two reasons why I've not switched to using IE64 exclusively:

1. Adobe doesn't have a Flash rendering for IE64 (or for that matter any other 64-bit browser). This is a real pain since a lot of sites do use flash. Unfortunately, nor does SilverLight - which is a pity considering Microsoft is pushing the 64-bit platform quite a bit.
2. Links clicked from programs such as Outlook or Windows Mail always open in IE32. I haven't found a way to change this to default to IE64. The "Default Programs" section in Control Panel only lists "Internet Explorer" as a choice for the browser and doesn't allow me to select the 64-bit version of this.

I really wish I could change to running fully 64-bit programs since the benefits seem to be great.

Well, posting after a long time. I've been busy in multiple things over the last few days - including being involved in the Windows Server 2008 Roadshow, talking to GoI officials on processes, etc.

During this time, I also upgraded my system to 4GB RAM and a 250GB hard disk. I went ahead and installed Windows Vista Ultimate x64 on it since my XPS M1710 is EMT64 enabled. The installation went off without a hitch. In fact I was pleasantly surprised to find that Vista detected and installed my WiFi card automatically - something it didn't do in the 32-bit version! Anyway, I downloaded the latest Vista 64-bit drivers for all the hardware components from Dell's site and installed all of them to get the maximum performance and features. (It is always a good idea to replace the stock MS drivers with specific drivers for your hardware to get the benefits of whatever it is that you're using. MS supplies a fairly basic set of drivers, in any case.)

Once that was done, the time to install all my favorite software came up. So I went ahead and installed a bunch of them. Here's my list and comments on each:

• Office 2007: No separate x64 edition but works just fine. No noticeable difference between x32 and x64
• SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition x64: Now this is a native 64-bit version and installs fine. You need to download and install the SQL Server 2005 SP2 x64 as well. But good to see that even the developer edition supports x64
• Visual Studio 2008 Team Edition: No separate x64 edition but it does install the .Net Framework x64 and a couple of other x64 components - so at least it's aware of being in a 64-bit environment
• Raxco PerfectDisk 8.0: Got an RD deal on this and have been using it for a long time. Simply the best defragger out there. And the best part is that it comes with a 64-bit edition as well. You need to extract the installer file into a folder (if you have Winrar installed, simply right click the setup file and select Extract to...). Once extracted, you will see an x64 folder which contains a setup.exe. Simply run this to install the 64-bit version
• Daemon Tools 4: Well, this claims to be 64-bit too. But there is only a single download that says that it will run the correct version (x32/x64) by detecting it. However this doesn't seem to be the case as the Daemon Tools process running on my machine is the 32-bit version
• AVG AntiVirus Professional: If you need a 64-bit enabled antivirus there are only a very few choices. I tried Avast! Free Home Edition but didn't like it. Then found out that AVG has 64-bit extensions in its Professional edition. Since I've been using AVG Free for ages and love the fact that it is very non-intrusive and takes up very little resources, I immediately purchased a two year subscription of the Pro edition. And yes, it does have a 64-bit scanner as well
• WinRAR: Sadly no 64-bit version of this. I did think that they would release one since the amount of computation that a 64-bit version could do is more than a 32-bit one and compression algorithms might benefit from it.

So far the 64-bit adventure has been nice. Here are some other observations and comments that I've had to face:

1. My machine shows only 3326 MB instead of the full 4096 MB  - even in the BIOS. For all those who tell me that 64-bit is the answer, well not entirely. The motherboard also needs to support a concept called "Memory Hole Remapping" - a way to move the address space used by peripheral devices (such as video card, etc.) into a space above the physically installed RAM. On my machine the motherboard doesn't support this - so the BIOS will always show a "hole" in the available RAM. For instance, if I upgrade my RAM to 8GB, both the BIOS and Vista will happily use 7326 MB of RAM. Vista 32-bit would not be able to utilize even this much.
2. Software developers need to pay attention to their installers as well. Even software that are 64-bit usually have 32-bit installers. So when the install starts up, the default folder to which they try to get installed to is "Program Files (x86)" rather than "Program Files" - which on Vista x64 is the folder for 64-bit programs.
3. Now that many people are on the 64-bit route even on desktops and laptops, it makes sense to have 64-bit versions of popular software. Hopefully 2008 will be the year where we see more 64-bit software coming out.