[NTLUG:Discuss] Re: Linux article -- oh, forgot my favorite! (MS Office for Linux)

[Steve Baker]

Bryan J. Smith wrote:

> Data alignment.  You have to worry about it on non-x86 architectures. 
> That's why the Mac version reads character (byte-by-byte).
> 
> MS Office for Windows uses record reads/writes.  Because of alignment
> issues, this not only causes issues for documents coming from non-MS
> Office versions or non-Windows MS Office versions, but _between_
> versions.

OMG!  Really?   Wow - that's such an elementary screwup.

Does this perhaps explain M$'s recalcitrance when it comes to 64 bit
processors?

The world has been needing 64 bit CPU's in mainstream PC's for
several years now - but we don't seem to be getting much closer to it.

I have an application that would really benefit from >4Gb of main
memory - which essentially requires a 64 bit CPU.   That's no problem
with Linux - but it's becoming noticable that M$ are locked into the
4Gb limit in the same way they were locked into the 640Kb limit
back in the 1980's...with nasty bank-switching kludges going on
in 32 bit x86 rather than the 'obvious' switch to a wider CPU.

Could WORD be the boat-anchor that's causing that drag?

---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
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