Do you know that 64-bit version of Windows actually still
doesn’t use the 64-bit browsers by default? But by using a 64-bit browser you
enjoy significant performance benefits. Hence, if you are a Windows user, then
this is how you can use 64-bit Web Browser on Windows.
Mozilla Firefox
ExtremeTech (a technology content publishing website) has posted
that 64-bit version of Firefox 8 is almost 10% faster than the 32-bit version.
However, Mozilla yet doesn’t offer official, stable 64-bit builds of Firefox. However,
you can still run 64-bit Firefox on your Windows. For this you have two
options, one is the official-but-unstable Firefox Nightly and other is the
stable-but-unofficial Waterfox.
Mozilla is offering nightly builds of Firefox for testers.
These builds are being constantly updating thus not very ideal for primary
browser. Moreover, Firefox Nightly website doesn’t even mention that the 64-bit
builds even exist for Windows. These builds remain buried on Mozilla’s FTP site, where you have to look for the “win64”
installer.
On the other hand, Waterfox is an
out and out 64-bit build of Firefox for Windows. Unlike the nightly version, Waterfox
is based on the stable releases of Firefox. It is a better platform as it is
more bug-free and offers more stable experience. Moreover, it uses the same
profile that Firefox does. To use Waterfox, you just need to install it and
follow the instructions of the wizard.
Internet Explorer
(IE)
When it comes to offering 64-bit browsing on Windows, Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer is perhaps the most reliable browser. The 64-bit version of IE
comes already installed on 64-bit version of Windows and it is available for
use from the Start Menu.
If you want to use 64-bit version of Internet Explorer (IE) as
your default browser, then there are chances that you might find it very
confusing and might run into plug-in compatibility issues. To avoid such issues
Microsoft doesn’t allow the setting of 64-bit IE as your default browser.
However, you can pin the 64-bit version to your taskbar and
can add it to the shortcut to your desktop.
However, you can set 64-bit IE as your default program for
certain file types like .htm files but for this you need to know the location
of the 64-bit IE. The 64-bit version is located at:
·
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
The 32-bit version is located at C:\Program Files
(x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe.
Google Chrome
It’s true that Google Chrome is one of the most used
browsers, but if the need is for arranging a 64-bit web browser, then Chrome
fans will be disappointed to learn that 64-bit version of Chrome is available
only for Linux. Read the abstract from the Chromium project website, to learn
more on this.
As we already admit the fact that technology is way smarter
and with some small tweaks you can compile the 64-bit of Chrome browser for Windows
as well. However, there is no concrete data available on the web regarding how
to set 64-bit of Chrome browser for Windows, perhaps no one has done that yet.
Opera
Opera has released the 64-bit development snapshots for
Windows. As these are newly released, so these can be unstable, hence Opera
doesn’t recommend you to use them as your default browser. To keep you reminded
of its incompleteness, Opera Next (the brand name of the new Opera development
snapshots) projects a black-and-white logo. The 64-bit version of Opera has out-of-process
plug-ins that allow the 64-bit versions to run 32-bit plug-ins.
Plug-ins
Plug-in compatibility is one of the major issues with the 64-bit
browsers. In fact, it is easy to compile a browser as a 64-bit binary but to drag
the plug-in developers along is the real difficulty. In the past also, 64-bit
browsers had lacked important and popular plug-ins like Flash. However, now Flash
and Java have acquired its 64-bit versions. To install the 64-bit browser of
Adobe Flash Player, you need to go to the download page in a 64-bit browser and
from there you will be prompted to download the 64-bit installer.
If you are using Java, you can download the 64-bit build of
Java from the manual download page. The 64-bit build includes a 64-bit plug-in;
however, if you are using both 32 and 64-bit browsers, then you essentially require
installing both the Java packages.
Therefore, it can be concluded that no browser recommends
you to use the 64-bit browser as the default browser on Windows. However, there
are certain tweaks through which you can use a 64-bit Web Browser on Windows.
Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE) are the best browsers in this
regard, where Chrome has nothing to offer to the Windows users in this regard.
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