{"id":64,"date":"2012-11-28T10:50:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-28T15:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nccomputertech.wordpress.com\/?p=64"},"modified":"2012-11-28T10:50:46","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T15:50:46","slug":"64-bit-firefox-for-windows-should-be-prioritized-not-suspended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2012\/11\/28\/64-bit-firefox-for-windows-should-be-prioritized-not-suspended\/","title":{"rendered":"64-bit Firefox for Windows should be prioritized, not suspended"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The stable, supported, mainstream version of Firefox on Windows is a 32-bit application. Even if you use 64-bit Windows, if you use Firefox, you’re using a 32-bit browser. The exception is if you’re using the Nightly build of Firefox. This represents the latest, cutting-edge version of the browser, and it’s available in two versions: a 32-bit one, and a 64-bit one.
\nHowever, this won’t last much longer. Mozilla announced last week it was no longer going to produce 64-bit Nightly builds of Firefox for Windows; nor will it run automated tests of 64-bit Firefox. The browser’s future on Windows is resolutely 32-bit. Linux and Mac OS X, in contrast, both have official 64-bit versions.
\nSeveral reasons were given for this discontinuation: many plugins have no 64-bit version, Mozilla’s bug reporting and tracking infrastructure provides no clear distinction between 32-bit and 64-bit problems, bugs go unfixed because the 64-bit Windows version is not deemed a priority, and JavaScript performance in the 64-bit builds is substantially slower than in the 32-bit version. Further, Mozilla developers say they won’t fix any bugs that only manifest in 64-bit versions. Firefox developers say a fully supported 64-bit version of Firefox won’t be released in the first half of 2013 and it probably won’t make the second half either.
\nThis is an unfortunate decision by Mozilla. 64-bit support is not important to all applications, but when it comes to Web browsers, it has a valuable role to play. At its core, the difference between 32- and 64-bit comes down to memory. Each 32-bit process gets 232 bytes (that is, 4GB, of memory to use). Each 64-bit process gets 264 bytes, 18EB, four billion times more memory, to play with. Of that 4GB that 32-bit processes can use, there’s a further limitation: 32-bit Windows reserves 2GB or 1GB for itself, giving each 32-bit application only 2 or 3GB to use. 2GB is the default; to get 3GB, the application needs to opt in, and Windows needs to be booted in a special mode. On 64-bit Windows, 32-bit applications that opt in to 3GB support actually get almost the entire 4GB to themselves.
\nFull Story: 64-bit Firefox for Windows should be prioritized, not suspended | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stable, supported, mainstream version of Firefox on Windows is a 32-bit application. Even if you use 64-bit Windows, if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,9,11],"tags":[369,717,1214],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-microsoft","category-software","category-windows","tag-firefox","tag-mozilla","tag-windows-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-12","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3220,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/08\/20\/modern-ui-firefox-browser-for-windows-8-to-leave-beta-on-december-10th\/","url_meta":{"origin":64,"position":0},"title":"Modern UI Firefox browser for Windows 8 to leave beta on December 10th","author":"NCCT","date":"August 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been a long wait for Windows 8 users of Mozilla's Firefox browser, but there is now light at the end of the tunnel for those people who have been waiting for the \"Modern\" UI version to be released as a non-beta build. 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Statistics from Web measurement company Net Applications illustrated a rapid decline in Firefox and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Software"","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/software\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7876,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/03\/24\/fully-patched-versions-of-firefox-chrome-ie-11-and-safari-exploited-at-pwn2own-hacking-competition\/","url_meta":{"origin":64,"position":4},"title":"Fully patched versions of Firefox, Chrome, IE 11 and Safari exploited at Pwn2Own hacking competition","author":"NCCT","date":"March 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As in years past, the latest patched versions of the most popular web browsers around stood little chance against those competing in the annual Pwn2Own hacking competition. 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