A question of Kernels

[digitalfailure]

Right.....go easy on me here guys

What exactly is a kernel ?

My 2008 (8.1) imac has an intel core 2 duo processor that is 64bit compatible, but using the uname -a command in terminal shows i'm using a 32bit Kernel (i386)

As apple decided not to release an imac update, i'm looking at bringing my software upto date instead, i'm hoping to replace CS4 and Lr2.7 with CS5 and LR4.1 but I need to know that the system will run it.

Cheers

 

[Yv]

it's what the squirrels leave in your heatsink fan....

 

[neil_g]

basic laymans terms - kernel is the bit that makes the software talk to the hardware

 

[digitalfailure]

so, in basic terms..... if my processor is 64bit and snow leopard is 64bit, why is it running in 32bit?

 

[neil_g]

looks like its supported but not enabled by default..

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4287

leads to..

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3770

 

[digitalfailure]

blimey, they do like to over complicate things

I wonder how much of a performance impact i'd notice if i were to reinstall snow leopard and install cs5 and lr4 in 64bit compared to how it is at the moment.

 

[Chappers]

You don't need to re-instal Snowy to get it to boot into 64 bit mode. Hold down the 6 & 4 keys at start up. This will force it to start in 64 bit mode.

Lightroom 4 and CS5 should detect they are now in a 64 bit environment, you should see 64 bit appear on the start up splash screen next to the version numbers.

 

[neil_g]

You don't need to re-instal Snowy to get it to boot into 64 bit mode. Hold down the 6 & 4 keys at start up. This will force it to start in 64 bit mode.

although only temporary until next boot, one of the links i posted gave the command to permanently make the switch