660508 - x86_64 Thunderbird 5.0 Beta 1 installs into 32-bit Windows directory (port bug 568949 to comm-central)

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Thunderbird :: Installer, defect)

Description

[Steve Snyder]

Thunderbird 5.0 Beta 1 builds, installs and runs correctly when built as a 64-bit Windows application.  The installer, though, wants to install to subdirectory "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird 5.0 Beta 1\" by default.

The correct program directory for a 64-bit Windows application on a 64-bit version of Windows is "C:\Program Files\", not directory "C:\Program Files (x86)\".  Opting for a Custom install allows for selcting the correct program directory for installation.

The same code built as a 32-bit application also installs below "C:\Program Files (x86)\" on x64 Windows.

Comment 1

[Steve Snyder]

Also, a x86_64 build of Thunderbird 5.0 (non-beta) does not integrate with the Win7 Task Bar.  With the TB icon "pinned" to the Task Bar, opening TB creates another icon rather than just highlighting the existing icon.  This second icon is the active one; clicking the pre-existing icon causes an attempt to open a send copy of TB.

Is this a result of my opting for an Advanced installation and manually specifying "C:\Program Files\" as the parent of the TB installation directory?

Comment 2

[Makoto Kato [:m_kato]]

Attachment: fix v1

Comment 3

[Ludovic Hirlimann [:Usul]]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Created attachment 543708 [details] [diff] [review] [review]
> fix v1

Any reasons you didn't set reviewers Makoto-san ?

Comment 4

[Makoto Kato [:m_kato]]

(In reply to comment #3)
> (In reply to comment #2)
> > Created attachment 543708 [details] [diff] [review] [review] [review]
> > fix v1
> 
> Any reasons you didn't set reviewers Makoto-san ?

I don't test yet.  After testing it, I will set review.

Comment 5

[Makoto Kato [:m_kato]]

Attachment: fix v2

Comment 6

[Rain [:rain1] (inactive)]

(In reply to comment #1)
> Also, a x86_64 build of Thunderbird 5.0 (non-beta) does not integrate with
> the Win7 Task Bar.  With the TB icon "pinned" to the Task Bar, opening TB
> creates another icon rather than just highlighting the existing icon.  This
> second icon is the active one; clicking the pre-existing icon causes an
> attempt to open a send copy of TB.
> 
> Is this a result of my opting for an Advanced installation and manually
> specifying "C:\Program Files\" as the parent of the TB installation
> directory?

No, this was a bug in Thunderbird 5.0 beta 1 that was fixed by bug 661363.

Comment 7

[Rain [:rain1] (inactive)]

Comment on attachment 546982 [details] [diff] [review]
fix v2

I haven't reviewed the code, but I gave the patch a spin on an x64 build and verified that Tb installed by default to the x64 Program Files directory.

Comment 8

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

Makoto: is this ready to land now?

Comment 9

[Makoto Kato [:m_kato]]

http://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/72b5821333a3

Comment 10

[Duane S.]

???  I see that this bug relates to Windows x64 builds.....  Is there an Winx64 build available on nightly somewhere ?  I am currently testing FF Nightly Central (win_x64) and want to try a TB x64 build.

FWIW - I STRONGLY encourage the advancement of the 64 bit builds, but not for performance reasons.  My primary reason is to free RAM for legacy apps that will never be updated to 64 bit or that have major compatibility issues (like 64 bit MS Office).

Kudos to all Mozilla devs and Keep up the fantastic work!

Comment 11

[Rain [:rain1] (inactive)]

(In reply to Duane S. from comment #10)
> ???  I see that this bug relates to Windows x64 builds.....  Is there an
> Winx64 build available on nightly somewhere ?  I am currently testing FF
> Nightly Central (win_x64) and want to try a TB x64 build.

No, I think you'll have to build it yourself...

> 
> FWIW - I STRONGLY encourage the advancement of the 64 bit builds, but not
> for performance reasons.  My primary reason is to free RAM for legacy apps
> that will never be updated to 64 bit or that have major compatibility issues
> (like 64 bit MS Office).

That is not how 64-bit works. On 64-bit Windows, there's no limit on the amount of RAM 32-bit processes can collectively use.

Comment 12

[Duane S.]

Hmmmm - you are probably a more knowledgeable on the 32bit thing.... but I can certainly say that when I run 32bit apps (office, FF 8.0x86 with a bunch of tabs(18), TB 8.0) I have about 2.3-2.8GB of RAM in use.  When I open my legacy 32bit app, I get TERRIBLE performance as RAM usage approaches 3 or so GB.  It takes forever to switch between apps (15-20seconds each) and individual app performance takes a big hit.  Additionally, FF tabs start having problems scrolling and anything with Flash becomes very sluggish.

Close FF and RAM drops back to about 1.8 GB and all is well.  Start FF Nightly-Central-x64 and load same tabs..... RAM usage climbs to 3.8 or so GB but all apps run fine and Flash works smoothly.

My conclusion was that WOW32 is a single process and all apps must run within the 3~GB limit of Win32 with Large RAM flag.  Plus.... I do not see multiple WOW32's running.