Category Archives: Linux 64-bit

Although both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista versions are released to manufacturing, there is still no 64-bit Flash Player, making it impossible to view Flash content in 64-bit web browsers. Adobe says its developers are working on Flash Player support for 64-bit platforms as part of company’s “ongoing commitment to the cross-platform compatibility of Flash Player”. But, Adobe hasn’t yet announced timing or release dates.

The company says users currently must use 32-bit Flash Player in 32-bit browser to view Flash content on a 64-bit operating system. In 64-bit Windows Vista both 64-bit and emulated 32-bit Internet Explorer are installed by default. Linux users must install 32-bit browser and 32-bit Flash Player plug-in on their 64-bit operating systems.

Since 64-bit Linux users downgrade their browsers for years in order to use Flash, and since Microsoft’s 64-bit Vista (retail) and Apple’s 64-bit Mac OS X Leopard operating systems are scheduled to ship in January and spring 2007 respectively, we hope that 64-bit Flash will be released by then.

After installing the latest Linux Ubuntu 6.10 distribution, code named Edgy Eft, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions on the same machine, we found that Ubuntu for AMD64 is faster in Zlib benchmark for over 20 percent. However, 32-bit version of popular Linux distribution was faster in MD5 and Blowfish tests for about 19% and 4% percent, respectively.

The benchmarks were done on a budget configuration, featuring AMD Sempron 2800+ processor, Asus K8U-X motherboard, and 512MB of DDR memory. We have benchmarked with Sempron clocked at default 1.6GHz, as same as with 30% overclocked CPU using JumperFree configuration in motherboard’s BIOS.

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AMD announced today that AMD Opteron and AMD Athlon 64 processor-based systems and AMD Turion 64 mobile technology have achieved YES Certification from Novell, further validating the company’s commitment to interoperability and customer-centric innovation.

Novell YES Certification demonstrates the highest level of compatibility and interoperability with Novell products, including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. The certification assures users that systems powered by AMD processors are compatible with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and backed by support offerings from both Novell and AMD.

Chron.com | (BW) AMD Receives Novell YES Certification for AMD64 Processor-Based Systems; YES Certification Assures Compatibility With SUSE Linux

The problem: you’ve taken the trouble to hand-build your finely tuned 64-bit computer, and you’ve installed your favorite 64-bit flavor of Linux — but the cretins who run the World Wide Web are still putting up content viewable only on 32-bit Intel-compatible Web browsers, either designed for their in-house plugins that they supply only as 32-bit binaries, or in compressed media formats for which players are available only as 32-bit binaries. What are your options?

The easiest thing to do is to install a 32-bit browser inside a “chroot jail” — a minimalistic 32-bit system, including just the browser and the support libraries it needs to run (in this case, including specifically the 32-bit plugins and codecs), isolated from the rest of the system in a directory sealed off via the chroot command. You can launch the 32-bit browser from the 64-bit environment and it will connect and browse the Web like normal, but it will not be able to access resources on your machine installed outside of the chroot jail.

For normal browsing and viewing embedded media, this setup works like a charm. You can install plugins and media codecs directly from within the browser, in most cases. You can even install the 32-bit version of your distro’s package management application and keep everything up-to-date at little to no extra effort.

NewsForge | 32-bit browsing in a 64-bit system