
A recent article by Tony Smith from The Register titled "
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther will not be a 64-bit OS" caused a good deal of confusion with many people, including me. It is also caused a
heated argument here on OSNews. The basic point of the article is that Mac OS 10.2.7 and 10.3 are not "true" 64-bit OSes, but the article does not clearly explain what a "true" 64-bit OS is. This had led to a lot of claims that the article is false or misinformed, rather than just unclear, which is certainly is.
Gee, in the 1970's I was told a word length is the OS's natural language size. A 64 bit word length OS is the only measure of what would run on a 64 bit computer is it not? In other words, can the OS understand a single 64 bit command? Not a hacked or doubled command. The instruction set of the processor must be 64 bit even it only the ability to use the total command is there.