[Python-Dev] why is not 64-bit installer the default download link for Windows? (original) (raw)
Steven D'Aprano steve at pearwood.info
Wed Jul 11 01:39:50 EDT 2018
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On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 05:14:34AM +0300, Ivan Pozdeev via Python-Dev wrote:
On 11.07.2018 1:41, Victor Stinner wrote: >2018-07-09 18:01 GMT+02:00 Steve Dower <steve.dower at python.org>: >>The difficulty is that they definitely can use the 32-bit version, and >>those few who are on older machines or older installs of Windows may not >>understand why the link we provide didn't work for them.
I think Steve's comment is right on the money.
Although professional programmers should be a bit more technically competent than the average user, many are just hobbiest programmers, or school kids who are just as clueless as the average user since they are average users.
>Let's say that only 10% of users still use 32-bit version. If they >download a default 64-bit binary, I'm quite sure that running the >binary will emit an error no? Such users should be used to such error, >and be able to get the 64-bit version, no?
That's a lot of assumptions there. Here are a few things which might break those assumptions:
inexperienced users who haven't installed much software;
or who don't know that 32- versus 64-bit is a thing;
conservative users who don't install much software aside from using their vendor's official packages;
users who install from app stores which automatically detect the right version of the installer so they don't need to think about it (how do app stores handle this issue?);
or those who expect the default installer to work by default, so long as they pick the right OS (Windows or Mac).
I don't remember what CPU my PC has, and when I can't be bothered to look it up, I always go for the default install option expecting that it ought to work regardless of whether I have a 32- or 64-bit OS. So far that's a strategy that has never done me wrong :-)
Attached the image of what happens. The message is:
"One or more issues caused the setup to fail. Please fix the issues and the retry setup. For more information see the log file . 0x80070661 - This installation package is not supported by this processor type. Contact your product vendor." Pretty descriptive in my book.
Are you being sarcastic?
I would expect that "this processor type" refers to incompatible chip sets like ARM versus Intel, not the 32- versus 64-bitness of the operating system.
And I certainly wouldn't associate the problem:
"I downloaded and ran the wrong installer"with the appropriate solution:
"I need to hunt for a 32-bit installer, rather than using
the default"given that error message.
-- Steve
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