[Python-Dev] ctypes and win64

[Tim Peters]

[Steve Holden]
>> Reasonable enough, but I suspect that Thomas' suggestion might save us
>> from raising false hopes. I'd suggest that the final release
>> announcement point out that this is the first release containing
>> specific support for 64-bit architectures (if indeed it is)

[Martin v. Löwis]
> It isn't. Python ran on 64-bit Alpha for nearly a decade now (I guess),
> and was released for Win64 throughout Python 2.4. ActiveState has
> been releasing an AMD64 package for some time now.

Python has also been used on 64-bit Crays, and I actually did the
first 64-bit port in 1993 (to a KSR Unix machine -- took less than a
day to get it running fine!  Guido's an excellent C coder.).  Win64 is
the first (and probably only forever more) where sizeof(long) <
sizeof(void*), and that caused some Win64-unique pain, and may cause
more.

BTW, at least two of the people at the NFS sprint earlier this year
were compiling and running Python on Win64 laptops.  It's "solid
enough", and surely nobody expects that Win64 users expect 100%
perfection of anything they run <0.5 wink>.