64-bit??

Hi guys,

I updated my MacBook White yesterday to Snow Leopard, surely the speed has increased with startup, shutdown, Safari, Mail and some other stuff. I also noticed that the icons have improved graphically and the colors have enhanced greatly also that I have got back an amazing 10.40GB back when it said that the installation will free up only upto 7GB, although i have a couple of question which im unsure about:

1. Since Apple said that upgrading to Snow Leopard enables the user to use 64-bit computing, but when i checked in the System Profiler=>Software it says "64-bit Kernel and Extension : NO" but when I open up Activity Monitor it shows all the applications running in 64-bit, yet when I double checked it from Terminal the results are 'EFI32', since I read on the forum that if I have an Intel Core2Duo I have 64-bit processing power but on the other hand somebody suggested to run the script on Terminal to check whether I have 64-bit processing capabilities. My question is that do I have 64-bit processing power and if I do how come I can't enable it by pressing '6' and '4' on the startup?

2. Most of the forum said that Apple has made the MacBook by default to boot on a 32-bit Kernel and if one wants to experience 64-bit processing then needs to hold '6' and '4' while booting, once the 64-bit kernel is enabled by this process then the next time I reboot the system will it again start on 64-bit or the default 32-bit and if starts on a 64-bit kernel how can it be reverted?

3. After the upgrade when i went to my Movies folder and selected a video clip with a .avi format and previewed in QuickLook it never played, I can only hear sounds but no video!! and my real player doesn't work aswell! any solution to that and why is this happening?

4. New technologies like Grand Central Dispatch, OpenCL, CUP and others do they only work in 64-bit kernel or they support 32-bit likewise?

Please suggest, your answers will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...4-bit-snow-leopard-what-64-bit-means-you.html

Multiple 3rd party apps are now broken including Flip4Mac to play wmv files and I would imagine RealPlayer. You'll have to either go back to Leopard or wait for the developers to come out with updates.

I have Windows Media Player, so I don't need Flip4Mac anymore.

Also, if you have a 32bit EFI, then OS X can't run in 64bit, but I believe you can run 64bit in Boot Camp. My dad had the same problem with an older 17" MBP.

leopard-user1 said:

Also, if you have a 32bit EFI, then OS X can't run in 64bit, but I believe you can run 64bit in Boot Camp.

Click to expand...

The applications on your machine can run as 64-bit processes. The execution of 64-bit applications is independent of your EFI. The only thing that the EFI dictates is the kernel your machine can boot into.

So let's make this easy for you...

1. Since Apple said that upgrading to Snow Leopard enables the user to use 64-bit computing, but when i checked in the System Profiler=>Software it says "64-bit Kernel and Extension : NO" but when I open up Activity Monitor it shows all the applications running in 64-bit, yet when I double checked it from Terminal the results are 'EFI32', since I read on the forum that if I have an Intel Core2Duo I have 64-bit processing power but on the other hand somebody suggested to run the script on Terminal to check whether I have 64-bit processing capabilities. My question is that do I have 64-bit processing power and if I do how come I can't enable it by pressing '6' and '4' on the startup?

Your machine has a 32 bit EFI and thus cannot boot into a 64 bit kernel. My MacBook has a 64 bit EFI and still won't boot into a 64 bit kernel because apple has this blocked at the moment for some reason. So, even by starting while holding 6 and 4, you're not going to get a 64 bit kernel.


2. Most of the forum said that Apple has made the MacBook by default to boot on a 32-bit Kernel and if one wants to experience 64-bit processing then needs to hold '6' and '4' while booting, once the 64-bit kernel is enabled by this process then the next time I reboot the system will it again start on 64-bit or the default 32-bit and if starts on a 64-bit kernel how can it be reverted?

As I said above, it's not going to happen, sorry. If you were successful, though, the way to revert is by booting while holding 3 and 2 (although I think it would just default back to 32 the next time you booted anyway). Although you're not booting with a 64 bit kernel, your applications are still running in 64 bit. This is independent of the kernel. The kernel running in 64 bit for the end user pretty much only means your machine can address more RAM. The apps are still running in 64 bit and taking full advantage of that nice 64 bit processor you've got.

3. After the upgrade when i went to my Movies folder and selected a video clip with a .avi format and previewed in QuickLook it never played, I can only hear sounds but no video!! and my real player doesn't work aswell! any solution to that and why is this happening?

Maybe install DivX again? I'm not sure though. Just sounds like a compatibility issue. Wait for a bit until new versions are released, and grab them when they are.

4. New technologies like Grand Central Dispatch, OpenCL, CUP and others do they only work in 64-bit kernel or they support 32-bit likewise?

I'm pretty sure they work independently of which kernel you boot into.

thanks to all who replied it was really helpful...just one more question though after installing OS 10.6 the colors on my MacBook have greatly enhanced for say icons, softwares and websites as well is this because im running 64-bit applications, since i heard that when you run 64-bit applications the color quality improves or is it just that Apple has enhanced the colors ...thanks again

64 bit will have no effect on color management

It may be that the upgrade to snow leopard has changed your monitors calibration settings, but color profiles have nothing to do with 64 0r 32 bit processes

imranali said:

thanks to all who replied it was really helpful...just one more question though after installing OS 10.6 the colors on my MacBook have greatly enhanced for say icons, softwares and websites as well is this because im running 64-bit applications, since i heard that when you run 64-bit applications the color quality improves or is it just that Apple has enhanced the colors ...thanks again

Click to expand...

Give the section titled "Snow Leopard's new looks" here a read over (the first four paragraphs specifically).