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64-bit Platforms

Running Omniscope on 64-bit Platforms

Beginning with Omniscope 2.4, a 64-bit installer is now provided. From the download page you can now select "Windows (64-bit)" under the section entitled "Also available for". If you choose the full installer, a 64-bit private version of Java will also be installed. Both 64 and 32-bit versions of Java can run on the same machine, but both 32 and 64-bit versions of Omniscope cannot run on the same machine at present.

Record Count benefits - 64-bit avoids the 32-bit Windows bottleneck on memory addressing

Devices running 32-bit Windows and Java can only allocate for Omniscope use a little over 1 GB of system memory, limiting Omniscope file size to a little over a million records. Devices running 64-bit Windows and Java are limited only by the amount of RAM physically present. It is now quite easy to purchase PCs at consumer prices with say 4 GB or more of memory, although the PC must have a 64-bit Windows operating system installed to use more than about 3 GB.

Full 64-bit platform functionality limitations - some things do not yet work

If you have 64-bit Windows, and also 64-bit Java and 64-bit Omniscope, the following will be unavailable:

  • The DataPlayer view - you will not be able to create and export interactive Flash DataPlayers
  • The Web view
  • Google Maps within the Map view
We expect the above limitations to be eliminated soon, but the timing depends on long-awaited changes to 64-bit Java libraries, not on Omniscope itself.

If you have 64-bit Windows and you install 32-bit Java and 32-bit Omniscope (use the offline bundled 32-bit Installer for both Java and Omniscope), full functionality will be available, but maximum file size/RAM utilisation will be the same as for 32-bit Omniscope. Note: If you have 64-bit Windows, and you install only 32-bit Java, you cannot install 64-bit Omniscope.

More detail on 32 versus 64-bit 

Operating systems and programs both come in two versions; 32-bit (each instruction processed is 32 bits long) and 64-bit (each instruction processed is 64-bits long).  Most processors are 64-bit capable now, and most powerful servers have already been converted to 64-bit because of its superior speed and higher memory-addressing limits. Vista is available for the desktop in both 32-bit and 64-bit, and the trend is to convert 32-bit desktop computers to 64-bit as they are replaced over the next few years. Windows XP, 2003 Server and Vista are all available in 64-bit versions. The 32-bit version of Omniscope (which can be installed on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows) suffers from the Windows-imposed memory limit, effectively limiting the typical Omniscope file size to about 1.2 million records because Windows is unable to provide Omniscope with access to more than about 1 GB of installed RAM.  Running 64-bit Omniscope on 64-bit platforms removes this limit (like using longer telephone numbers permits more numbers to be issued) and allows Omniscope to scale up to multi-million record capability on machines with 4 or more GB of installed RAM.

The 64-bit version of Omniscope provides far greater capabilities in terms of data volume than the 32-bit version, but requires a 64-bit processor (almost all now are) and a 64-bit version of Windows (x64 version of XP, 2003 or Vista 64-bit) and also the 64-bit version of Java (installed along with Omniscope 64-bit full install). The 64-bit Omniscope installer is a different installer, but it installs to the same location, and there is no additional licensing implication of running on 64-bit systems. However, existing licenses should be de-activated before, and re-activated after, switching between the 32-bit and 64-bit installation. If you are installing Omniscope on a machine running a 64-bit version of Windows, for example, you will not escape the addressing memory limit in the default 32-bit Java unless you also install and run the 64-bit version of Java bundled as a PVM with 64-bit Omniscope. To switch between 32-bit and 64-bit Omniscope on a 64-bit Windows PC, you must de-activate your license (if you have one), re-install Omniscope using whichever installer you choose, then re-activate your license if your are outside the free trial period.

Customising 64-bit RAM memory allocation

By default, the 64-bit version of Omniscope limits Omniscope to 75% of physical RAM memory.  If you wish to increase or decrease this, please see Customising Omniscope memory allocation.


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