Ouch 32

I just had a big Visual Net index update blow up because the data structures got to be bigger than 2³¹ bytes (only a couple million records, but each with lots of wordy text and tons and tons of metadata). We’re OK, the solution is to use the more expensive 64-bit iron, but this does mark a turning point.

I’ve been in 64-bit territory before, but only back in the days when, pre-Google, Web Search meant Lycos and Infoseek and me at Open Text. This is the first time I’ve been driven there in an ordinary Intranet-style app.

I have grim, grim memories of the 16-to-32-bit transition, anyone else remember char far *? Let’s hope that we, as a profession, manage this one more gracefully. So far I’m optimistic.