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Anyone using Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 will find that they will be automatically upgraded to Firefox 3.5 Preview in the next few days. This version is neither a beta nor a release candidate; it effectively lies between those two stages in the development cycle.
You’ll need to install HttpWatch version 6.1.39 or later if you want to use it with this new version of Firefox.
The HttpWatch Properties window reports this updated version as ‘Firefox 3.5b99’ :
May 9, 2009 in
Automation , C# , Firefox , HttpWatch , Internet Explorer , Javascript
The 64-bit version of Windows Vista is becoming increasing popular due to its ability to access more than 4 GB of physical memory. To an ordinary Windows user, there are few noticeable differences from the 32-bit version because it can run both 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
In this post we wanted to answer some of the questions you may have about Windows Vista 64-bit and the effect it has on the use of Firefox, HttpWatch and Internet Explorer (IE).
The Task Manager on Vista 64-bit shows 32-bit tasks with a ‘*32′ after the process name. If there’s no ‘*32′ after the name then it is running in 64-bit mode. This screen shot shows a 32-bit process called page_check running on Vista 64-bit:
Clicking on the launch bar IE icon in Vista 64-bit starts the 32-bit version of IE:
A 64-bit version of IE is available but you have to explicitly select it from the Start menu:
Microsoft has done this because the 64-bit version of IE can only load 64-bit browser extensions and most extensions, such as the Adobe Flash player, are only available in 32-bit.
Here’s what Adobe says about 64-bit support:
Adobe Flash Player is not supported for playback in a 64-bit browser. However, you can run Flash Player in a 32-bit browser running on a 64-bit operating system.
…
Adobe is working on Flash Player support for 64-bit platforms as part of our ongoing commitment to the cross-platform compatibility of Flash Player. We expect to provide native support for 64-bit platforms in an upcoming release of Flash Player following Flash Player 10.
Without the Flash player, you can’t use sites like YouTube or BBC iPlayer. That’s a non-starter for many web users and the reason why 32-bit IE is the default on Vista 64-bit.
Microsoft is also putting off 64-bit support in Silverlight until other 64-bit extensions are available:
Right now our plan is to run SL in 32-bit mode (and not have a 64-bit native version). This is mostly because other browser plug-ins (and most browsers) don’t support 64-bit yet. We are looking at adding native 64-bit support in the future though.
There’s currently no official build of Firefox for 64-bit Windows as stated in a Mozilla support forum:
There are no releases or nightly builds of 64 bit Firefox for Windows from Mozilla as the earliest release to likely have 64-bit versions is Firefox 4.0. The only option you have is either roll your own or use a third-party build.
There’s little motivation for the browser vendors to go 64-bit because unlike other applications, such as memory hungry video editors or database servers, web browsers will not see significant performance benefits in 64-bit mode and there is also the problem with the lack of 64-bit extensions.
Yes, you can use HttpWatch on Vista 64-bit but it is currently only available in 32-bit. This means that the HttpWatch plug-in can only be used in the 32-bit edition of IE. We will provide 64-bit plug-ins when Adobe, Microsoft and Mozilla provide significant 64-bit support.
The automation interface can be used from 64-bit programs without making any changes so as long as you have HttpWatch version 6.1.32 or later.
In some cases, such as accessing a .hwl file opened with the OpenLog method, you may see reduced performance in a 64-bit program. This is because the 64-bit API support in HttpWatch uses a separate WIN32 process rather than directly loading the API. To avoid this issue make sure that your client program runs 32-bit (see below).
This will work, but you will need to ensure that your program runs in 32-bit mode. Otherwise, you will see this error when you attempt to create an instance of the HttpWatch controller object:
Unhandled Exception: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80040154): Retrieving
the COM class factory for component with CLSID {C4CEDB78-2B64-4703-99BE-A037A849D703}
failed due to the following error: 80040154.
If you’re seeing this error with HttpWatch version 6 make sure that you’ve installed version 6.1.32 or later.
As mentioned above, you will need to ensure that a program using the HttpWatch automation API runs in 32-bit mode if:
.Net projects (e.g. C# or VB.Net) have a default configuration setting of ‘Any CPU’. This causes them to automatically run as a 64-bit process on Vista 64-bit. To force them to always run 32-bit you’ll need to change this setting to ‘x86′ in Visual Studio:
Script based programs, such as Javascript or VBScript, that use the Windows Scripting Host will normally run in 64-bit on Vista 64-bit because cscript.exe and wscript.exe are 64-bit programs. You can force the use of 32-bit by using the script programs that are installed in the Windows\SysWow64 directory:
The sample automation code that is installed with HttpWatch version 6.1.32 or later, uses the ‘x86’ setting in C# projects and includes instructions on how to run the Javascript samples in 32-bit mode.
HttpWatch version 6.1.30 now supports Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 as well as public releases of Firefox 2.0 and 3.0.
You can read more about Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 in the Mozilla release notes and a full list of changes to HttpWatch is available on the Version History page and RSS Feed.