[Info-vax] 64-bit (was Re: New CEO of VMS Software)

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 1/9/2024 7:14 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> On Tue, 9 Jan 2024 18:33:13 -0500, Dave Froble wrote:
>> I seriously doubt that any [noddy] users would take advantage of a
>> conversion to 64 bit addresses.  So why bother?
> 
> In the x86-32/x86-64 situation in particular, the 32-bit architecture is
> known for being register-poor. This is alleviated somewhat in the 64-bit
> extensions. This means a compiler can generate more efficient code using
> the 64-bit instructions.

And?

The VMS 32 vs 64 bit discussion has nothing to do with traditional
32 bit vs 64 bit.

There has never been and never will be a VMS Basic for x86 (IA-32).

VMS Basic is expected to become available for VMS x86-64 any day.

And we expect it to store 32 bit pointers because that is
what it does on Alpha and Itanium.

It will use x86-64 instructions and x86-64 registers and x86-64
address space and so on.

And we are discussing whether it some day in the future should
switch to use 64 bit pointers.

Arne