1 Thanks, Steven.  This solved a recent problem I'd been having with being unable to convert some recent MKV files into MP4s with hardsubs.

2 The question is, is there any appreciable difference in quality between an 8 bit and 10 bit video, now that the obvious decoding problems are gone?

3

Last time we had this discussion, it was said that the advantage was smaller files, not better quality. Whether that's true, I don't know.

Only reason I wanted it is because it's increasingly the codec of choice for a lot of circles for their high-res stuff.

4 I'm not completely happy with the Shark007 codecs myself.  While the 64-bit thing is nice, especially for using Media Center where you don't get a 32 bit option on the 64 bit OS, some of the installed codecs aren't up to the standards of what comes with CCCP.  OGM playback is not nearly as good as with CCCP, and the same with flash video.  Of course they do update fairly frequently.  The last time I installed them I didn't have the Bing toolbar issue, that must be new.

5

That's pretty common with these kinds of packages, but usually they're polite enough to ask if you want it, and not install if you say you don't.

They get sponsorship money for including that in their install packages, and I can understand the attraction (for them).

6 By the way, the 32-bit package did ask if I wanted them, and I said no. I think it installed them anyway.

7 They also seem to be Vista/7 only, and I'm on XP still.

8 I'm not clear on the advantage of using a 64 bit player. Maybe eventually Windows will stop permitting mixed-use 32 & 64 on a single system, but for now 32 bit programs run fine on my 64 bit OS. In so many cases, 64 bit programs come with endless aggravation, as in the example above (installing add-ons without permission).

9

SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) is the generic name for a category of instructions which are useful for some kinds of data processing. It gets used when you have a lot of data and need to do the same operations on all of it at once.

Video is a classic example of that kind of thing. The Pentium 32-bit model has a set of SIMD instructions which can operate on 8-bit or 16-bit values. So when it's processing 8-bit data using SIMD, it can operate on four at once.

In the 64-bit model, those instructions can operate on eight at once. So if you had a 64-bit player program, and 64-bit codecs, it should be possible to process larger and more complicated video in 64-bit than in 32-bit.

10 There's a move afoot in Linux land to create a new ABI called "32x" or something like that. It runs the userland in normal 64 bit mode, but maps everything into one 32-bit area. This way 32-bit pointers are used, structures are deflated, cache pressures reduced, but things like wide SIMD and large file offsets are easy to use.

11

That seems kind of pointless. It's pretty much a solution for a problem which time and advancing technology will solve anyway.

It's for people with 64-bit computers who only have 2G of RAM, pretty much. I've got 6G in this machine, and I can't see why I'd care if a program used this programming model instead of being pure 64-bit code.

The only people who really would want this are those who have 64-bit processors but only have 2G of RAM in their computers, and don't want to spend the money to get something new (or to upgrade their existing hardware). Hell of a lot of work for a pretty small (and declining) user base.

12 IE9:  Tools|Internet Options, and click the Settings button next to the "change search defaults."  IIRC it's similar in IE8.

13 Now, about how to fix it in Firefox? (Which is what I was complaining about?)

14 You can manage your search engine in Firefox by going to the search box on the toolbar, and clicking the little down arrow next to the icon.  The last option in the list should be "Manage Search Engines."  Presumably Ask has been moved to the top of the list, you can just move Google or whatever back up to the top of the list.

15 Thank you; that did it.

16 Sorry, Steven, I missed that you were using FF.  I think IE, btw, will let you switch search providers the same way FF does, by using the dropdown.