Windows 7 64bit - use 32bit or 64bit Vim?

[David Fishburn]

I regularily build my on Vim using VS 2008.

I have just been upgraded to Windows 7 64bit and am beginning to set it up.

Seems you always have to choose if you want (or can use) the 32bit
version of software or find a 64bit version.

Now, since I build my own Vim, I guess I can get VS 2008 to build me a
64bit version of Vim.
Here are my problems:

1. I use Perl plugins daily (Perl64 exists).
2. I use Python 2.5 (not that often, but a few plugins which use it),
I am not certain if a 64 bit version of this exists.
3. All my other plugins written in VimScript should of course be fine.

Even if I can compile my Vim using the 64bit Perl version, I am not
certain if my perl modules have 64bit versions, or should that all be
resolved when I simply install them? Or do the authors have to make
64bit changes to make them work in the first place?

Just looking for some feedback on what others have done on the 64bit
versions of Windows which are available these days.

TIA,
Dave

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[George V. Reilly]

On Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 12:19 PM, David Fishburn <dfishb...@gmail.com> wrote:

I regularily build my on Vim using VS 2008.

I have just been upgraded to Windows 7 64bit and am beginning to set it up.

Seems you always have to choose if you want (or can use) the 32bit
version of software or find a 64bit version.

Now, since I build my own Vim, I guess I can get VS 2008 to build me a
64bit version of Vim.
Here are my problems:

1.  I use Perl plugins daily (Perl64 exists).
2.  I use Python 2.5 (not that often, but a few plugins which use it),
I am not certain if a 64 bit version of this exists.
3.  All my other plugins written in VimScript should of course be fine.

Even if I can compile my Vim using the 64bit Perl version, I am not
certain if my perl modules have 64bit versions, or should that all be
resolved when I simply install them?  Or do the authors have to make
64bit changes to make them work in the first place?

Just looking for some feedback on what others have done on the 64bit
versions of Windows which are available these days.

I'm the maintainer of http://code.google.com/p/vim-win3264/. The main reason for the existence of the Win64 version is Explorer integration. You have to have a 64-bit version of gvimext.dll on Win64, so that you can right-click in Explorer and get Vim-related commands. The other reason for the Win64 version is my quixotic quest to make Vim run cleanly on Win64. It's hard to imagine anyone truly needing >4GB for their Vim process address space.

The actual (g)vim.exe binary doesn't need to be 64-bit. Win32 binaries run fine on Win64. Indeed, it's simpler to build a 32-bit (g)vim.exe, as all the language DLLs need to be available in 64-bit flavors too. The only language that I know for sure works as a native Win64 DLL is Python 2.6. Even that has problems if you're trying to run Python C extensions, since you have to figure out how to get a Win64 build of the C extension. I gave up the last time I tried. I'm using the 32-bit version of Python 2.6 on Win64.  (I think the Win64 support in Python 2.5 is not recommended.)

I tried to build Vim with Ruby 1.9 DLL support earlier this month. I abandoned the effort when I realized that the MinGW headers included with Ruby 1.9 weren't going to compile with the MSVC compiler.

I've never tried to get a 64-bit version of Perl running with Win64 Vim.

I think a better solution would be a smarter Windows installer for Vim which included Win32 and Win64 copies of gvimext.dll and a Win32 gvim.exe, that installed the appropriate flavor of the shell extension DLL.

-- 
/George V. Reilly  geo...@reilly.org  Twitter: @georgevreilly
http://www.georgevreilly.com/blog  http://blogs.cozi.com/tech

 

[Tony Mechelynck]

On 27/04/10 01:06, Craig Barkhouse wrote:

> George V. Reilly said:
>> I think a better solution would be a smarter Windows installer for Vim which included Win32 and Win64 copies of gvimext.dll and a Win32 gvim.exe, that installed the appropriate flavor of the shell extension DLL.
>

> There are still a few reasons why one might want a native 64-bit version of Vim:
> 1) Editing files> 4GB in size, rare I know, but still.
> 2) 64-bit WinPE does not have a WOW64 subsystem, hence you cannot run a 32-bit executable.
> 3) Windows Server 2008 R2 (i.e. Win7 Server) also does not have the WOW64 subsystem, by default, although it is an optional component you can install.
> 4) Potential for perf gains, particularly in heavy memory operations like memcpy and memcmp which can be optimized for the 64-bit word size.
>
> Those are in addition to the Explorer integration issue that you mention.
>
> I would definitely use the 64-bit Vim if it came in an official installer. As it is, I don't use your (George) 64-bit binary, just because I like to use the vanilla official binary.
>
> Craig
>

The "vanilla official binary" Vim for Windows (compiled by Bram) is a
7.2.000, and severely outdated by now. Even Steve Hall's "Vim without
Cream", though compiled from "official" sources and patches, is supposed
to be "unofficial". Yet IMHO it is still the best ready-made Vim
available for W32.

Best regards,
Tony.
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ARTHUR: We found them.
GUARD #1: Found them? In Mercea? The coconut's tropical!
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GUARD #1: Well, this is a temperate zone.
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Python)

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[pansz]

David Fishburn 写道:

> I regularily build my on Vim using VS 2008.
>
> I have just been upgraded to Windows 7 64bit and am beginning to set it up.
>
> Seems you always have to choose if you want (or can use) the 32bit
> version of software or find a 64bit version.
>
> Now, since I build my own Vim, I guess I can get VS 2008 to build me a
> 64bit version of Vim.
> Here are my problems:
>

Almost all open-source softwares have no problem in 64bit. This is the
reason that almost all Linux software supports 64bit without any problem.

In windows things are a bit different, because close-source and
binary-distributed softwares are very popular in windows and you don't
get 64bit unless they deployed a 64bit version.

If you have all the source code for your python and perl modules it may
be easy to go everything 64-bit. Otherwise it may be easier to keep
32bit if you're using Windows.

[Bram Moolenaar]

That sounds like the best way to go. Does NSIS have a feature to detect
Windows being 32 or 64 bit? Then we should be able to install the right
version of gvimext.dll.

I hope we can make this work soon, after changing the Windows installer
it should be tested properly.

--
A)bort, R)etry, D)o it right this time

/// Bram Moolenaar -- Br...@Moolenaar.net -- http://www.Moolenaar.net \\\
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[cnc...@gmail.com]

to detect win64 environment:
ReadEnvStr $Win64 PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE
StrCmp $Win64 "x86" lbl_Win32

in win32 dos environment, it has this virable.
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86