>From owner-simulators Mon Sep 23 09:32:07 1996 Received: from meitner.cs.washington.edu (meitner.cs.washington.edu [128.95.2.104]) by june.cs.washington.edu (8.7.5/7.2ju) with ESMTP id JAA00779 for ; Mon, 23 Sep 1996 09:32:07 -0700 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by meitner.cs.washington.edu (8.7.5/7.2ws+) with SMTP id JAA00874 for ; Mon, 23 Sep 1996 09:32:07 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <199609231632.JAA00874@meitner.cs.washington.edu> To: simulators@cs Subject: Windows x86 (and WOW) Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 09:32:07 PDT From: " pardo@cs.washington.edu" X-Message-Id: simulators@cs.washington.edu, message #1996-09-001 X-Unsubscribe: e-mail `majordomo@cs.washington.edu', body `unsubscribe simulators' X-URL: `http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/pardo/sim.d/mail.d/index.html' [This is a text dump of the Microsoft info at the below URL.] Windows x86 Technology Preview: Running x86 Win32 Binaries on RISC Platforms http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/x86.htm Windows x86 is a new component under development for Windows NT which runs most x86 Win32 applications seamlessly and unmodified on RISC platforms. This is in contrast to the existing Windows on Windows (WOW) which runs Win16 applications on RISC platforms. Customers using Windows NT on RISC platforms can now use Windows NT applications which may only be available on Intel platforms, at about the same speed as a 486 processor. Not all applications are supported however: * Applications which do not run on a corresponding x86 NT build are not supported. * Applications which call NT APIs directly are also not supported. * Applications which provide shell or winhelp type extension dlls are not supported in the first version. * X86 debuggers are also not supported in the first version of Wx86. The emulation CPU for running x86 Win32 applications is different than the one used for WOW. Most of the differences involve removing features that are not needed for running flat x86 applications. Their elimination simplifies the code generated by the emulator, particularly with respect to memory access checking. In addition, there is a better match between the APIs being thunked, which results in simpler thunks on the whole. These changes were made to enhance the performance of Wx86. Reporting Problems: The Windows x86 Technology Preview has not been fully tested and should not be deployed in production environments. There is currently no official Microsoft technical support available for using the Windows x86 Technology Preview on Windows NT version 4.0. However, we encourage you to send your feedback to us. If you wish to report a problem or send feedback, please completely fill out a report using the standard PROBREP.TXT file which is located in the \%SystemRoot%\System32 folder of your Windows NT 4.0 installation. When filling out your report, please place the text Wx86: at the beginning of the title. This will allow us to track the report properly. For Example: x86: Unable to install Project95 on Power PC Send the completed report via internet mail to: ntbug@microsoft.com Application Installation: In Control Panel, start the Add/Remove Programs applet. Be sure to check the Force x86 Install/Uninstall checkbox before pressing the Install button. x86 applications may install correctly when other methods are used, but this is the only supported method. Under some circumstances, an applications installer may give a message to the effect of this application is not supported on your version of NT. To work around this problem, exit all windows applications, and start the Windows NT Task Manager (). Select the Processes page. Select the image named ntvdm.exe and click on the End Process button. There will be a Task Manager Warning dialog. Select Yes. Do this for each of the ntvdm.exes listed in the image name list. Go back to the control panel and repeat the installation process. Missing Functionality: MAPI Support for MAPI in the technology preview is very limited. Some features of mail enabled applications may not work correctly. Shell Extensions x86 Shell extensions are not supported in the technology preview. Debugger Support x86 debuggers are not supported. Control panel Applets Control panel applets installed by x86 applications are not supported. Specific Application Problems Internet Explorer 3.0 Beta 2 Internet Explorer 3.0 doesn't start. It depends on a shell extension, which is not supported for the technology preview. Microsoft Cinemania 96 The system may display a dialog containing CINSTB caused a datatype misalignment fault in VERSION.dll ... Press the ignore button to continue, and Cinemania should run. Microsoft Publisher 95 Publisher 95 displays its user interface, but beeps in response to keyboard and mouse input. Microsoft Office 95 Do not install the WordMail option if you are using the RISC Exchange client. Doing so will cause Unable to open form dialogs from Exchange when opening some mail messages. Microsoft Works Using the wizards results in the message "Works ran out of memory. Save when opening some mail messages. Microsoft Works Using the wizards results in the message "Works ran out of memory. Save or close any other open files or application". Symantec C++ 7.2 Performance Meter installed in the Symantec C++ desktop folder will not start. The system presents a dialog box with The procedure entry point NtOpenFile could not be located in the Dynamic Link Library NTDLL.DLL instead. AutoVision Demo The AutoVision demo supplied with AutoCAD R13 has repainting problems. To download the Windows x86 Technology Preview, click here.