Do I Need X64 Or X86 Software That Wasnt
The only time Id probably drop down to x86 is if I needed to run software that wasnt supported on x64 (say native C++ code that only had x86 libraries).Windows 8 can only run on x86/x64 processors. Compile your code as Any CPU and it run on either. The cost should be the same as all the Azure App Services are 64-bit processors anyway.
But in the past few years, the market’s gotten all hot and bothered for tablets that are bigger and more powerful than phones, but simpler than laptops — like the iPad or Kindle. Mobile iOS and Android operating systems run on ARM.The two processor architectures are mutually exclusive: a program that’s built for x86/x64 can’t run on ARM under any circumstances, and vice versa.Since the 90s, these architectures have existed in parallel worlds: ARM for phones and small PDAs, x86/x64 for desktops and big laptops. All versions of Windows run on x86/x64.ARM processors: They’re weak but low-power processors for smartphones and other devices that aren’t plugged into the wall. So, they’re used in desktop computers that can plug into the wall. But why does x86/x64 vs ARM matter? Why does each processor require different versions of Windows? Let’s drill down.X86/x64 processors: They’re fast and powerful, but they require a lot of electricity. Works amazing, Great app does exactly what it says it doesCool.
Atom processors still can consume 2x the electricity of an ARM processor, even at the same processor count/clock speed. Intel’s doing that with the Atom processors, which give up processing power, x64 support, and high-speed computing features like SSE in return for super-reduced power consumption.BUT. But there’s an easy way for them to stay relevant — make an x86/x64 processor that’s low-power enough to place in tablets. X86/x64 processor manufacturers are potentially the most harmed by the rise of tablets. But Microsoft sees everyone moving to tablets, and it doesn’t want to lose all its future revenue, so it entered the mobile arena with Windows RT and the Surface. But tablets have USB ports, full web browsers, and word processing and photo editing apps, which means ARM-based portables have become direct challengers to x86/x64-based desktops.Windows has always been a desktop-only operating system, so it’s only been available for x86/x64 processors.
ARM processors only offer these basic instructions. Well, most code only requires a few instructions — read/write memory, do arithmetic, jump, boolean logic, not much more. RISC stands for ‘Reduced Instruction Set Computing’, and, befitting an acronym that’s part of your entire brand name, it’s what makes ARM so low-power.You may remember that the instruction set refers to the set of commands that the processor can execute.
It’s also why programs built for x86/x64 can’t run in ARM — once you compile a program for x86/x64, it’s hardcoded to use these combo-instructions, and there’s no translation to ARM from there.So what do the specs of two similar-release-date processors look like? Let’s compare the ARM AM3359 and the x86 Atom Z650.The Atom Z650 is definitely more powerful, with a 67% clock speed increase — but it consumes over 400% the electricity. Mind you, it also means that some programs run faster in x86/x64 processors than they do in ARM processors with the same specs — an algorithm that takes 3 cycles on an ARM processor can take 1 cycle on an x86/x64 processor if it’s been wrapped into a CISC combo-instruction. However, support for these combo-instructions requires extra hardware — and that hardware costs electricity.That difference in hardware is why ARM processors use less power than x86/x64 processors at the same clock speed. CISC processors offer combo-instructions (previous example being STOSB) that handle these common instruction patterns super-efficiently. Although almost all code can be represented by the basic instructions in RISC, certain patterns of instructions are common — for instance, “write this byte to memory then look at the immediately following byte”.
And that’s a lot of Beanie Babies.This entry was posted in Hardware on Januby walkerb.
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