Why windows 64 still makes use of user32.dll etc?

Question

I think under windows x64, it still uses user32.dll and a bunch of other 32 bit libraries. Why there is no user64.dll?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_api#Versions – Igby Largeman Feb 07 '12 at 00:33 — Igby Largeman, Feb 07 '12 at 00:33
How on Earth is this question off topic? – Hans Passant Feb 07 '12 at 00:53 — Hans Passant, Feb 07 '12 at 00:53
Duplicate: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1540741 – CWilson Sep 15 '17 at 17:34 — CWilson, Sep 15 '17 at 17:34

score 19 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 07 '12 at 00:30

19

C:\Windows\System32\user32.dll is a 64-bit library.
The 32-bit version is in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\user32.dll.

They can't change any names because that would break all sorts of programs with hard-coded paths.

answered Feb 07 '12 at 00:30

SLaks

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score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 07 '12 at 00:31

2

The names "user32" and "system32" and so on existed long before the modern 64-bit editions of Windows. The names were intended to distinguish them from the 16-bit versions, not from the 64-bit versions. On 64-bit Windows, it's still not 16-bit, so it's still "system32", "user32", and so on.

Nobody planned it that way, it just happened.

answered Feb 07 '12 at 00:31

David Schwartz

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Change dll filename will create trouble linking / loading dlls have to handle 32/64 with different names every time. The OS simply redirects system folders when a program is running in 32-bit mode. – linquize Feb 23 '12 at 04:49

Why windows 64 still makes use of user32.dll etc?

2 Answers2

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