We have these facts:
- 32-bit is deprecated since Xojo 2024r3
- 32-bit support will be removed at some point
- we don’t know when it will be removed
you need to plan for that.
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I’m living one interesting and worrisome phenomenon, seems like some users are downgrading Windows 11 to Windows 10 (some), and even the Windows 7 (few) not supported anymore. The 32 bit seems not a thing for me but I did not investigate yet. I’m not sure how I’ll handle that yet, but I think I’ll need to push people towards some upgrade path and be prepared to some impact.
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@Anthony_G_Cyphers
Same for the IT sector I work in, some systems still running XP , heck one system still running 2K
I still have 2015r2.4 for XP, for when/if I need to maintain them.
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As the release notes say, it’s deprecated but we don’t have a specific date for the removal of 32-bit builds, but they won’t last forever. We just wanted to give people a heads up on our future plans. Building and maintaining each architecture’s frameworks take time and resources, and as people build fewer and fewer 32-bit apps on various platforms those resources will eventually be better spent elsewhere.
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I know. As I said, cutting Intel 32bit seems not affecting me much, anyway. I was just reporting something unusual happening at my user base. Some kind of rebellion against Windows 11 from part of the users, it would be interesting to know if such movement is happening in other markets, and that’s why I reported this curious event noticed here. 
Right now I see something going on and maybe there’s some kind of rebellion fighting back? 
I understand that, and it makes sense. As long we can go back and get old versions to work with if necessary works for me.
Makes sense and is what I thought.
This is one area where Apple’s very aggressive approach to providing upgrade paths and eventually cutting support for older technologies pays off. For example, there has never been a situation where a Mac user installed the “wrong” version of OS X (32- or 64-bit) because there isn’t any such thing; there exists exactly one edition of each version of the operating system that runs your software. During the transition from 32 to 64 bits, we had releases of OS X that (mostly) seamlessly ran binaries of both architectures. Eventually, after several years of transition, the OS dropped support for 32 bits and most people didn’t even notice.
Microsoft has its reasons for maintaining infinite backward compatibility but it comes at a cost that increases with time.
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Could you just keep an old version of Xojo that supports 32-bit compilation and use that for older computers?
This means that if the software you are developing needs to be compiled for 64 bits, you will always have need two separate projects. One with the old version of Xojo for 32 bits, and the other with the new 64 bit only versions.
However, if the software is only for those older ones you will only use the old compatible 32bit version of Xojo.
That is what many of us have been suggesting 
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The issue I have with this is that I’m using Xojo Web with 32-bit dll’s, exposed to the public internet. There will inevitably be security issues that won’t get patched (remember the whole kerfuffle with OpenSSL?) and it won’t be safe to run my web app anymore. There will literally be no recourse. The dll’s I’m accessing control industrial equipment that is no longer maintained so there is no hope in making other arrangements for these devices.
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In your particular case, could you build a little 32-bit Xojo app that does nothing except access the DLL and communicate with the 64-bit main app, via sockets or inter-process communications?
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This is one way to do it, but it still would require my client to make a hardware investment for a 64-bit webserver, which is a big ask.
It may be an absurd idea, but why couldn’t an extended support license be created for 32-bit builds? This way, developers who need it would still be covered. Additionally, regular licenses could be made cheaper since they wouldn’t include the same compatibility. That way, Xojo wouldn’t feel like it’s throwing resources away. Just a thought.
Xojo tends not to support platforms they no longer hold interest in.
See: Web 1.0
I just checked Google on that subject and the given answer is:
Is Windows 10 32-bit no longer supported?
As of September 30, 2024, there will be no product upgrades for computers running 32-bit versions of Windows 10. Additionally, you will no longer be able to reinstall the product on 32-bit versions of Windows 10 after that date. The last supported version for Windows 32-bit systems is 19.6.30 oct. 2024
It also says that you can go from Windows 32 bits to 64 bits for free (if the running hardware support in 64 bits).
Also, and in the case of shops/businesses, the computer has been tax-free for a long time. It is probably time to invest. This is to be discussed with an accountant for tax implications.
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Some of the software and utilities I have written in Xojo is used in the developing world - countries who still use old machines not connected to any network - but they can’t afford to buy new computers. Schools and un universities in Africa and South Asia. I compile in both 64-bit and 32-bit to accommodate this. If 32-bit goes completely I would need to go back to Visual Basic 6.0!
I would say that you can continue to use the last version of Xojo that works for this scenario. And since your clients don’t seem to be upgrading to newer hardware or software anyway, you won’t miss anything…
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I’m working at a computer center and we just migrated to windows 11 for our office automation and that went smoothly.
For production we only use linux systems on VM’s.
I do not understand why people fall back from W11 to W10. For what I did understand when W11 was released, doing a migration to W11 makes it impossible to fall back to W10. That means that people have to do a clean install of W10 and restore backups made under W10.
And they were doing exactly that, some gone further, and installed Windows 7, which I strongly discourage. I guess people is hating the excess of undesired garbage features with lots of background things and internet activity and content download and info upload consuming resources, when all they want is to run half-dozen of apps wasting the minimal resources. They aren’t enterprise users, just regular SMB people running their own businesses with a “I do what I want” mindset.
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