Without all the time spent on DDT (that just covers a small percentage of the core API) we could have got a 64-bit version probably before the passing of Bob Zale.
Given that he was over a decade late in producing a
true 32-bit compiler (PB 9), it is hard to imagine Bob producing a competitive 64-bit compiler had he lived another ten years (which would have brought him to the average male life-span in the USA).
The 32-bit compiler we have now does not even properly take advantage of advanced 32-bit processors. 32-bit processors are now dead and have not been a standard in several years. PB was far behind industry standards on 32-bit processor architecture when 32-bit processors died. Heck, PB was always 10-15 years behind industry standards for everything.
Bob intentionally kept PB from progressing. Had Bob dropped the ridiculous idea that new versions of PB had to be compatible with archaic legacy versions of Windows, the compilers could have progressed and remained competitive with current industry standards.
I do realize that there is a user base who needs to support these legacy systems, but PowerBASIC 8 does not magically stop working just because PB version 9 comes out. PB 8 should have been marketed for use on pre-XP versions of Windows and PB 9 should have been marketed for XP and above, with PB 10 following the lead of PB 9. PB 9 and 10 could have focused on current standards instead of trying to live in the past and support Windows '95 which came out in the fall of '94. Those needing to support pre-XP systems could have chugged along with PB 8.
A programming language can't progress when each new version jumps back to the fall of '94.It is true Bob was only one man. I spent years watching what one man named Fred did with PureBasic and how it was always advancing, adapting and supporting current standards. Eventually, Fred added Timo and PureBasic got even better. I have watched PowerBASIC remain stagnant while PureBasic has grown by leaps and bounds in the same time frame and added support for Windows, Linux and OS X, along with 64-bit. And for those needing to support legacy versions of Windows for some things, all of the old versions of PureBasic are accessible to registered users. PureBasic is the most mature indie BASIC out there and Fred has done it all with one price for life and not nickel-and-diming the community over upgrades, visual designers, a console version, a 2d engine and a 3d engine. One license covers it all. No P. T. Barnum marketing schemes, false promises or vaporware. Just a language that stays current and competitive,
produced by an author who chooses not to live in the past. So one man can do it, as it was just one man at PureBasic for many years.