As I understand it, and please correct me if I am wrong, the next Raspberry Pi OS Trixie version will support 32-bit userland, so obviously support for 32-bit isn't going away entirely.
But it appears there is an increasing lack of support for 32-bit applications from Raspberry Pi; Pi Connect screen sharing requires 64-bit, Raspberry Pi's Official VS Code Pico Extension installs but doesn't work on 32-bit, rpi-imager is languishing at version 1.8.5 on 32-bit when the latest is 1.9.6. Increasingly Raspberry Pi pre-built asset bundles are available only for 64-bit, not for 32-bit.
Some lack of support may have legitimate technical reasons but lack of 32-bit support in the VS Code Pico Extension appears to be entirely through choice given Pico SDK builds work perfectly well on 32-bit, as do CMake builds under VS Code on 32-bit, and, if one knew what they were doing, it seems it should be possible to have the VS Code Pico Extension support 32-bit.
It's not hard to imagine this situation getting worse rather than better, that we'll see fewer and fewer apps and tools supporting 32-bits. That means 32-bit users will effectively become second-class citizens through being denied use of what 64-bit users will have use of.
I have myself predicted 32-bit will 'die a death of a thousands cuts', rather than be dropped, it will be supported but there will be less and less it can be used for, and maybe we have entered that phase of its life ?
Does Raspberry Pi have a statement of policy on 32-bit, a roadmap for the future of 32-bit ?
But it appears there is an increasing lack of support for 32-bit applications from Raspberry Pi; Pi Connect screen sharing requires 64-bit, Raspberry Pi's Official VS Code Pico Extension installs but doesn't work on 32-bit, rpi-imager is languishing at version 1.8.5 on 32-bit when the latest is 1.9.6. Increasingly Raspberry Pi pre-built asset bundles are available only for 64-bit, not for 32-bit.
Some lack of support may have legitimate technical reasons but lack of 32-bit support in the VS Code Pico Extension appears to be entirely through choice given Pico SDK builds work perfectly well on 32-bit, as do CMake builds under VS Code on 32-bit, and, if one knew what they were doing, it seems it should be possible to have the VS Code Pico Extension support 32-bit.
It's not hard to imagine this situation getting worse rather than better, that we'll see fewer and fewer apps and tools supporting 32-bits. That means 32-bit users will effectively become second-class citizens through being denied use of what 64-bit users will have use of.
I have myself predicted 32-bit will 'die a death of a thousands cuts', rather than be dropped, it will be supported but there will be less and less it can be used for, and maybe we have entered that phase of its life ?
Does Raspberry Pi have a statement of policy on 32-bit, a roadmap for the future of 32-bit ?
Statistics: Posted by hippy — Sun Aug 31, 2025 5:17 pm — Replies 1 — Views 77