10/21/2005 2:47:44 PM

As I have posted earlier here I have been testing some of the newer computer technologies with SongShow Plus in order to be able to better answer some of your questions.  Most recently I’ve been working with dual core processors.  (What a job eh?  I get the newest toys to play with.)

For those of you that don’t know what a dual core processor is here is a brief overview.  Dual coreprocessors contain two central cores (the brains) sharing resources on one chip.  Dual core processors essentially act like two processors contained in one package.  In the very near future it will become nearly impossible to find a single core processor. 

I am happy to report that with the latest version of SSP 7 (beta) we do support Dual Core processors.  Previous versions of SSP did work with dual core processors but were not as reliable. 

So for those of you that are looking at purchasing new computers for your churches and have been asking, yes, SongShow Plus 7 will work on a dual core processor. 

 

11/1/2005 11:31:06 AM

Did you notice an improvement in speed of the system with  SSP 7b / dvd / ppt / xp programs?

How about 64bit xp?

11/2/2005 12:05:21 PM

I can't say I noticed any performance improvement other than what I would expect from upgrading to a much faster processor.  The X2 processors from AMD are all quite fast. 

I'm still working on the 64bit stuff and so far haven't had many issues.  I'm not done yet though but I will post about it in the near future.  (I hope.)

11/2/2005 12:44:53 PM

Are you using the 64 bit version of WinXP or the 32-bit?

The 32-bit will run on the 64 bit processors. If you run the 64-bit, you will need to have 64-bit drivers, as i understand it.

32-bit applications will run on the 64-bit version, but in a Windows on Windows translation layer. You don't get any real payback until the applications are 64-bit as well, from what I've heard.

11/2/2005 2:17:28 PM

 This is correct.  XP x64 requires true 64 bit drivers.  This has to do with limitations placed on 32 bit software.  X64 Edition essentially runs all 32 bit applications in an emulator.  From their point of view it is a 32 bit OS.  The Emulator translates between 64 bit and 32 bit systems. 

It's a tidy solution to an otherwise messy problem.  However it is also a very limiting solution.  32 bit software is no longer allowed to make kernnel mode calls which is a major reason that drivers have to be 64 bits.  Most software (including SSP) is fine but those packages that do need to make kernnel mode calls will not be 64 bit compatible. 

Because of this emulation 32 bit applications may take a performance hit when run on 64 bit versions of XP.  Although from my past experience with x64 Edition of XP the emulation is very efficient so the performance loss is minimal.  But it is a concern to us with SSP so I'm checking it over as closely as I can.

For the dual core testing I tested on the 32 bit version of XP... for 64 bit testing I'm testing on the 64 bit version... although I suppose that last part kind of goes without saying.