On Wed, Oct 04, 2000 at 04:14:56PM +1000, Doug Stalker wrote:
> How long is it likely to be before 64 bit architecture becomes a limitation?
At the current rate of bloat, the year after next for Windoze OS & apps ;)
> Already 32 bits are too small for use in a lot of places - 32 bits places a
> limit of 4G possabilities on anything it is applied to. 4GB or RAM may sound
> like a lot today,
>From an end-user perspective, sure. From a business perspective, not really.
Once you start playing with respectably sized database servers, 4Gb can seem
cramped.
> but 10 years ago the 196MB in my home system would have been a
> lot, and 8GB or storage thought to be far more than one person could ever use.
Yup. The first server I installed came with a full-height 80Mb drive. The drive
alone cost more than most PC's do these days.
> I wonder if 10 years from now peopel will look back on teh computers in
> contempery sci-fi and wonder how we ever could have been so limited in scope.
> If they will look on the GUI as an anacronism
The 2D GUI, certainly, if we get holographic or head mounted displays.
> So what can be done to future proof things? The Y2K issue showed how not
> planning ahead can cause big headaches for future users - what are likely to be
> the first limits linux comes up against? I know the linux time-keeping system
> falls over after 2038, but what else could limit it?
The Kernel crew, at least, are keeping future limits in mind. There's a
small discussion on the kernel mailing list at the moment about making provision for
Intel PCs running at > 2Ghz.
Cheers
Paul Haddon
Technical Services Manager
Hartingdale Internet
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