(CS4) Photoshop 32Bit + Bridge + Win7 = CPU 100% all the time

Question

This is something that occurred to me many times now:
I need to use the 32Bit-Version of Photoshop because of all the Plugins I use and some of them run ONLY on one of them at a time, like PixelBender ( W H Y ? ? ? )
So: Whenever I have Photoshop 32bits running (because it would default to 64bits where my plugins are not available) and open Bridge afterwards to open a file in PS, Photoshop stays at 100% CPU (on one of the cores) all the time without any reason. I also checked if there were selections active (yes, selections sometimes pretty much need a LOT of CPU power, whyever!)
Otherwise, when I first start Bridge and THEN Photoshop 32Bits, the CPU usage is okay. Something seems using up much CPU power in some kind of endless loop / dead lock or something?!
It's quite annoying, because I don't use Bridge that often. Sometimes I want to start Bridge "on demand". And if I have opened Photoshop already I would have to close down everything just to be able to start Bridge again without losing a full CPU core.
So if anyone has the same issues like me: Just reverse the opening order: First open Bridge, THEN open Photoshop and everything should be fine.

Answer 1

I don't have an answer to your question about the infinite loop, but I can answer this:
function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
Ninarama wrote:
I need to use the 32Bit-Version of Photoshop because of all the Plugins I use and some of them run ONLY on one of them at a time, like PixelBender
( W H Y ? ? ? )
A plugin is a special kind of callable function library (Dynamic Link Library, or DLL in Windows speak).  A 32 bit DLL cannot be used by a 64 bit version of Photoshop.  In order to use the completely different instruction set the processor provides for 64 bit operation, the plugin code must be compiled specifically for 64 bit operation.
All plugins developed before the time of Photoshop CS4 were originally developed as 32 bit applications, because Photoshop was only 32 bit.  Even today, 32 bit users outnumber 64 bit users by a large margin.
Microsoft makes it almost trivially easy to compile 32 bit source code as a 64 bit application, BUT...  If the programmer hasn't been careful in his use of data types - specifically those that will be a different size (e.g., a pointer will be increased from 32 bits to 64 bits), then doing so - even if the software compiles successfully - might yield a non-functional plugin.
Sadly, many programmers are not careful with their use of data types.  This is 30+ years of software engineering talking.
With good design and good coding practices, the code will be good and the programmer will be able to compile a 64 bit plugin quickly.  Even bad code can be cleaned up in time, so that it can be made to work in 64 bit form.
But there's even more that must be done...
Most serious software uses an installer.
Installing software on a 64 bit system requires big changes to the installation package, or maybe even a whole new installer.  There is, for example, the added complexity that you, the user, might want the proper variant of the plugin installed into each of your 32 bit and 64 bit Photoshop installations.  And possibly multiples (e.g., CS4, CS5).  Creating a good installer package is somewhat akin to designing a rocket booster.  Except that the latter is generally agreed to be easier. 
And all this is just on the Windows side!  It must be repeated for the Mac, assuming the plugin is marketed into that segment as well.
So...  If your favorite plugin doesn't run under Photoshop x64, and the author doesn't have an upgrade available that does, maybe they are struggling to make it work, maybe they decided the x64 user market isn't big enough for their attention right now, or maybe they're just working on something else.
Probably more than you wanted to know, eh?
-Noel