Hi,
I am wondering wether it is time to migrate from XP (32bits) to 7 (32 or 64 bits depending on libraries) or not. (Note: most of my programs are in C++, the rest is legacy code written in older languages).
I wanted to know if anybody has ported his/her game code under windows 7. If so what should I watch for ?
Ghostly yours,
Red.
Porting code to windows 7
Read this to get an idea of what you are in for
And this is just the beginning. Depending on the third party components I'd say: leave it alone unless you have to...
And this is just the beginning. Depending on the third party components I'd say: leave it alone unless you have to...
Note that most 32-bit applications work just as well on 64-bit Windows 7 though, so if you stay with compiling for 32-bit you can probably upgrade without any changes, even to Windows 7 64. You still get the benefits of being able to have more RAM and you can write future programs for 64-bit.
Author
@ernow:
I have already read the article and conducted a first quick survey of my code. Due to the code design I chose, I have few impacts. Still, I will need a deeper check to remove these few impacts.
You are right that a lot of third party libraries are not yet ported into 64 bit code. I think I will follow your advice and wait for libraries to migrate.
@reptor:
IMHO the question is not a what but a why. We have two major OS evolutions: 64 bits and the 7 architecture. I do not know how much time we have before having to port code from XP to 7. But I know porting will be mandatory.
I remember porting code in C from Dos to windows 95 knowing windows 98 was on the way: it was a lot of work (especially when looking at libraries, memory representation evolution, ...).
I am wondering about the impact of the 7 architecture on my code (independantly of the 64 bit architecture).
@rufelt
I have seen indeed that feature. However, I wonder for how long it will be available before being abandonned by the next Microsoft OS. Any idea ?
Ghostly yours,
Red.
I have already read the article and conducted a first quick survey of my code. Due to the code design I chose, I have few impacts. Still, I will need a deeper check to remove these few impacts.
You are right that a lot of third party libraries are not yet ported into 64 bit code. I think I will follow your advice and wait for libraries to migrate.
@reptor:
IMHO the question is not a what but a why. We have two major OS evolutions: 64 bits and the 7 architecture. I do not know how much time we have before having to port code from XP to 7. But I know porting will be mandatory.
I remember porting code in C from Dos to windows 95 knowing windows 98 was on the way: it was a lot of work (especially when looking at libraries, memory representation evolution, ...).
I am wondering about the impact of the 7 architecture on my code (independantly of the 64 bit architecture).
@rufelt
I have seen indeed that feature. However, I wonder for how long it will be available before being abandonned by the next Microsoft OS. Any idea ?
Ghostly yours,
Red.
As for the porting to Win7:
Most stuff should be easy as long as you did stick to the rules of writing software correctly for XP. Major impact: UAC
Read this and download the tools to get an idea. This is the official stuff MS is using to test logo compliancy but you can use the free tools to test your applications!
Most stuff should be easy as long as you did stick to the rules of writing software correctly for XP. Major impact: UAC
Read this and download the tools to get an idea. This is the official stuff MS is using to test logo compliancy but you can use the free tools to test your applications!
Okay so you seem to be more worried of the change to a 64-bit version than of switching to Windows 7 it seems?
Considering that the Visual C++ 2010 supports both Windows XP and Windows 7 I don't think there should be any major problems with that itself. Considering API functions there are functions in Windows XP that are present in one version and not present in another version so the cautiousness about what features are present need to be applied there as well... basically there is no escaping the fact that you need to check if the functions you want to use are present, and for this you don't need to switch from XP to 7.
Of course if you change to a 64-bit version then that's another thing. Personally I've been reading about this for quite some time and I am not too worried about my code - I try not to use any techniques which could cause problems like when the size of pointers change and so on. At least I've been trying to be pro-active in trying to make sure it doesn't blow up when I need to make the switch.
This is one of the things I like about computer programming - there is so much to learn! I've been studying programming for about 10 years and I feel I am nowhere near a level I could say I don't really have to study any more. And I'll never get there because this industry changes so much so quick. It's great, isn't it. And professional programmers are paid to do this so they should not complain :) they should be happy that things change like this :)
Considering that the Visual C++ 2010 supports both Windows XP and Windows 7 I don't think there should be any major problems with that itself. Considering API functions there are functions in Windows XP that are present in one version and not present in another version so the cautiousness about what features are present need to be applied there as well... basically there is no escaping the fact that you need to check if the functions you want to use are present, and for this you don't need to switch from XP to 7.
Of course if you change to a 64-bit version then that's another thing. Personally I've been reading about this for quite some time and I am not too worried about my code - I try not to use any techniques which could cause problems like when the size of pointers change and so on. At least I've been trying to be pro-active in trying to make sure it doesn't blow up when I need to make the switch.
This is one of the things I like about computer programming - there is so much to learn! I've been studying programming for about 10 years and I feel I am nowhere near a level I could say I don't really have to study any more. And I'll never get there because this industry changes so much so quick. It's great, isn't it. And professional programmers are paid to do this so they should not complain :) they should be happy that things change like this :)
Quote:Original post by ernow
Read this to get an idea of what you are in for
Tbh that article is really bad.
*Example 1: Trying to fit a 64-bit pointer in 32 bits, which worked when you tested it on your 32-bit system.
*Example 2: Example 1, just with different code.
*Example 3: Example 1, with different code.
My point? I'll summarize the entire article for you: "Pointers are 64-bits wide in 64-bit systems."
Author
@ernow:
Thanks for the link. I will take time to read this thoroughly.
@reptor:
I am not more concerned by one or the other evolution. I only state that doing both will be unavoidable work. I am just looking for previous experiences in that task regarding windows 7 and 64 bits.
Through previous platform migration, I have learned that a major change of OS cannot be reduced to checking wether functions are present or not. It also implies different means to access resources (thus a rewrite of some sections of code). Ernow has hinted about UAC and given a link to the 7 software chart.
The trouble, when there are major evolutions, is not that 'things' change but more how to plan the mandatory migration between existing development tasks. To be able to plan, we have to be able to estimate the amount of work the migration represents.
@grantax:
do you prefer that article: www.gamedev.net/reference/programming/features/20issues64bit
Thanks all.
Ghostly yours,
Red.
Thanks for the link. I will take time to read this thoroughly.
@reptor:
I am not more concerned by one or the other evolution. I only state that doing both will be unavoidable work. I am just looking for previous experiences in that task regarding windows 7 and 64 bits.
Through previous platform migration, I have learned that a major change of OS cannot be reduced to checking wether functions are present or not. It also implies different means to access resources (thus a rewrite of some sections of code). Ernow has hinted about UAC and given a link to the 7 software chart.
The trouble, when there are major evolutions, is not that 'things' change but more how to plan the mandatory migration between existing development tasks. To be able to plan, we have to be able to estimate the amount of work the migration represents.
@grantax:
do you prefer that article: www.gamedev.net/reference/programming/features/20issues64bit
Thanks all.
Ghostly yours,
Red.
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