Hi Philippe,
Thank you!
When do you believe you will release a 64bits version for OSX ? Maybe you prefer wait for Snow Leopard ?
To be honest, I have no idea. The *only* problem is Qt 4.5.2 (
http://qtsoftware.com/). As you probably know, PixInsight's GUI is based on the Qt library. Qt 4.5 is the first version supporting 64-bit Cocoa-based development on Mac OS X. Now the problem is that Qt 4.5 (even the latest 4.5.2 version) is so plagued by bugs that PixInsight is just unusable when compiled against it.
The same *exact* code works like a charm when compiled with Qt 4.4.3, which is the current version I'm using on the Mac. Unfortunately, Qt 4.4.3 is only available as a 32-bit Carbon-based framework on Mac OS X. Interestingly, the same *exact* code works wonderfully compiled against Qt 4.5.2 on Windows and Linux, both as 32-bit and 64-bit builds.
So I am completely stuck with Qt for Mac OS X. Of course I've contacted Qt Software (= Nokia) support. The problem is that they need to see a piece of working code that reproduces the problem, but PixInsight is so complex that writing such a test program is something I just can't afford right now. All Qt 4.5.2 example programs work fine as 64-bit builds on the Mac, but PixInsight is a complete disaster.
I can basically do one of the following:
a) Wait until the Qt guys eventually fix the problem(s) that are currently preventing PI from working on the Mac with Qt 4.5.
b) Stop my development and video production work completely and try to generate a "simple" test program that reproduces exactly what is happening with the PixInsight core application and Qt 4.5.2.
For now, I'm trying to convince myself that option a) is the way to go
Of course, that isn't true, I know that, everybody knows that. Welcome to the wonderful world of multiplatform development
So I ask for patience while I try to find a reasonable solution. I really hate this situation, especially because everything is ready to go 64-bit on the Mac except Qt.
What I want to state clear is that Qt is a
wonderful multiplatform development framework (the best one without doubt, IMO). This is just a stone in the road but PI and Qt definitely walk together.
