Can I run Visual Studio 2008 x86 on Windows Vista x64?

Question

Is it possible to run the 32-bit version of Visual Studio 2008 Professional on a Windows Vista 64-bit system?

• Are there any known caveats that I would need to be aware of?
• Would have to install the x64 version of the .NET Framework?
• Would there be any issues on building software targeted for x86?
• Would there be any (justifiable) arguments for getting the x64 version of VS2008 instead of reusing the current x86 license?

Quite tempted on getting a x64 Vista rig to be able to take advantage of more RAM :)

Answer 1

There is no x64 version of Visual Studio 2008. I'm running the standard 32-bit version on Vista x64 Ultimate and it works fine. There really are no day-to-day issues that I've run across. You just install it and go.

Answer 2

I'm using VS2008 on x64 right now. This lets me use my full 4GB of RAM. It works, but there are a few corner cases to be aware of:

• Debugging x64 apps is done with remote debugging from the 32-bit subsystem to the 64-bit subsystem.

• managed (.NET) apps by default are marked "any platform", which means they're run under 64-bit on an x64 OS. That means that managed debugging is remote by default.

• There's no Edit-and-Continue when remote debugging, so there's no E&C for .NET on an x64 OS, unless you mark your app as 32-bit-only. Similarly, if you make a native 64-bit app, you can't E&C it.

• There is no mixed (managed + native) when remote debugging, so you can't debug both managed and native parts of an x64 app.

Answer 3

• None I know of. I use both Visual Studio 2008 Professional and Team System, and they both seem to work fine on x64.
• Yes.
• No.
• I don't think there is a 64-bit version of VS 2008.

Overall, it's smooth sailing for me, so I think you can jump right in.