64 bit tools leaving beta this month
For those of you keeping a keen eye on the version numbers of the various C++ 64 bit betas we have will have noticed that the betas now have the same version number as their 32 bit counterparts. The reason for this is that we are getting ready for these tools to leave beta and to be released. We expect this to be during December 2013, if all goes well in the next week or so.
Before we can do this we need to make some modifications to the website, the shopping cart, test it all still works correctly, etc.
Once released the 32 bit and 64 bit C++ tools will have the same version number.
The 32 bit tools will continue to work with 32 bit executables on both 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems.
The 64 bit tools will only work with 64 bit executables on 64 bit operating systems.
The 64 bit tools will come bundled with the 32 bit version of the tool so that you can work with 32 bit or 64 bit executables on 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems. We anticipate a future version of the 64 bit tools that can launch and monitor 32 bit executables. This will allow you to collect more data and examine much larger datasets when testing 32 bit executables. We have prototypes of these tools now, but they are not ready for public release yet.
Why so long?
I know its been a very long time for these tools to have been in beta. We could have released some of them some time ago but we wanted to release all four at the same time so that we could also offer suites of tools and the also the combined 32+64 bundles. The problem was that C++ Memory Validator x64 had some problems with a few products being beta tested and C++ Performance Validator x64 also had some problems with SolidWorks 64 bit. We fixed the C++ Performance Validator x64 problem a few months ago and have been working on nailing all the remaining C++ Memory Validator x64 bugs.
Two beta testers in particular deserve a special mention for really helping us with these last bugs. Ciro Ettorre and Kevin Ernst. Ciro provided many logs of data for me to stare at and Kevin provided us with a machine that we could use to repeatedly try new fixes on.
I guess I didn’t really follow the advice I give to many people: “Get your product out there”. But that’s because these are new versions of existing products and I wanted them to be as good as the existing 32 bit tools. I hope we do not disappoint you.
Recommendation
I’d also like to recommend TeamViewer as a very useful product for remote working. We couldn’t have done the work with Kevin without this excellent tool. Best used with a headset microphone with the Voice over IP part of TeamViewer turned on.
What next?
As always we’ll keep you updated with what is happening with the betas via the email address associated with your beta test account.