TO JOHN BACUS:
I really don't care if it's 64 bits or even 16 bits, multicore or half-core, GPU or a non-acelarated graphics card. As long as it works as the standard for their time, and SK is working almost as good as was 6 years ago (and that's not a compliment). I can't do much more than I could back then, I don't really think SK behaves differently between high cost professional hardware to a low cost one, there's no new modeling tools or ways worth mentioning (since follow me in 4 and intersect lines in 7), no mapping tools too (since texture projection in 4), and no new animation tools (i use SK since 3.1 and don't remember a change in this department...). The point is, for us users, it looks SK stopped in time...
And I still feel differences working in 64 bits especially the bigger and more data the file has. (there's MAX and PSD files I can't even open in 32 bits because out of memory errors but i can in 64bits and seems to run smoother too. Why?). Now the question is would Sketchup benefit from 64 bits and multicore architecture, even if just for the plugin makers?
So I thought it would be good to review again, with you and users of the forum, some articles from 2006 from 3d Software like Maya or 3DS Max, or XSI (the name now is Softimage, and it was the first to use 64 bits if i'm not mistaken)
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=3768
"64-bit operation isn’t significantly faster than 32-bit, in fact 64-bit applications are commonly somewhat slower since they have more system overhead, but nothing is as slow as an application that crashes when it runs out of memory. (...)In practice, I noticed almost no difference between the software running in 32- and 64-bit modes until I hammered it with a huge dynamics system containing several million meatball particles. **The file readily crashes Maya in 32-bit mode (forcing a hard reboot), while it rendered, albeit slowly, on the 64-bit version.**It was no real surprise, but it was a welcome relief from the days of living with miserly particle and polygon budgets just to get things to render.(...) There’s no doubt that 64 bits is where things are inevitably headed and now’s as good a time as any to switch.(...) Of immediate benefit, even to 32-bit users, is that Autodesk has also made improvements to Maya’s multi-threading and operational performance in numerous areas. Users of multiple-processor systems, including those with the new dual-core processors, in particular, will enjoy performance in many operations, such as subdivision surface modeling, and working with hair and cloth. The program overall feels much snappier and more responsive."
http://www.cadalyst.com/design-visualization/first-look-review-autodesk-3ds-max-9-5954
"In 3ds Max 9, I found core-level performance improvements in several areas that provide better overall performance and a cleaner workflow.For larger and/or more complex models, the 64-bit version speeds through tasks much faster because of better use of and access to more system memory."
I can find more articles like these too and with different softwares, if you want, and i repeat: this is from 2006, i can be mistaken but i think that 4 years after, the 64 bits programming is much more refined and optimized now, especially for professional paid programmers. Now my question is: are this guys lying? Did all the professionals in the graphic industry just went nuts and blind for changing from 32 to 64 bits in software and hardware and saw differences? Or do you believe that your 32bits engine is as capable and fast as, for example Zbrush or modo (i choose these ones because the price is not much higher than SK, and in zbrush we get free upgrades forever...)and don't see the need for an update? Because i can choke SK with the less than half the polys the others can stand and still be workable...Isn't really nothing in the whole program that SK is, that would benefict from x64/multicore? one single item? Animation exporting, intersect operations, anything? or is the problem related to the old OpenGL engine SK has? And isn't OpenGL already multicore?
Honestly, I'm really curious about what you have to say about this.
About my opinion on SK8: it's a weak release, even weaker than 7, because 2 years have passed, we have exactly the same problems than before (even after giving ideas to you as you google ask us to do) and now we just got 1 new tool, and it does something that we could already do with a little more work using "intersect" or with a plugin called booltools (just for curiosity, are the solid tools a ruby plugin like DC components was in 7)...From this side it seems that your plan is releasing a new version every 2 years, with not much worth mentioning, gain some money and leave the heavy work and innovation for plugin makers (and all of a suddenly a cheap software get's more costly with all the paid plugins..)
For ideas for sketchup i got a few:
1- Multicore suport (why is layout multicore and sketchup singlecore?)
2- 64 bits suport (see above why i think we need it)
3- support more polys
4- Build a robust platform for others to work, compatible with current and future technology (multicore, 64bits, gpu accelerated) so that plugin makers can also take advantage of this and build better and faster plugins (even if you don't).
5- sketchup scenes that save the position of components and points (because points defines lines that define faces allowing some basic animation), or any form of animation more complex, and would be great if we could export the animation to other software's too.
6- Put the same line tools that layout has and make the existing one work properly (like offset)
7- make the import\export 3d model work and at least add obj import to the options
8- update the uv mapping tool (sphereical, cilindrical, unwarp, etc) and materials (like one material with 2 layer of textures with different mapping each, and/or basic reflex material for example)
9- Have the basic tools work as it should (offsets, follow me, from countors, shadows, 3d model formats import, and so on...) and do little updates on it ( like pushpulling more than one face at a time or working like jointpushpull, or do a scale not oriented with the axes but with a part of the mesh, or "add Detail" tool doing a basic smooth on meshs)
10- more ways to work with organic and curved meshs, either by new tools or by updating the old ones with smart and inovating ideas with the way they perfomed on cubic and organic meshs, and keeping things with lesser bottons)
11- give us a form to simulate basic lights other than the sun, and for the love of GOD fix the shadow bug ( how much time is this bug around without a workaround now? 6 years? isn't that too much time?)
12- Separate Layout from SK, (right now there's users that just want SK and don't have a use for layout, but with the current situation, feels like they are paying for Layout evolution and not SK's one, and overpaying for 2 programs just wanting one. If layout is that good it will survive on their own, and it is on version 3 now, not beta and unknown anymore...and i don't even know what to say about sylebuilder...)
13- a, basic and simple to use, physics engine would be nice, and there's so many open source (in case you don't know a physics is not just good for animation, but also modeling natural stuff and set up some type of scenes)
14- rebuild, if you have to, the SK UI so that this toolbar chaos and workarounds ends
15- and most important: LISTEN TO USER'S FEEDBACK (and if possible answer them)
I tried to make a features list more wide as possible so that any user, independently of their use of SK, could benefit from them, and in a way that SK doesn't turn into a behemoth like 3DS Max but that can be a much better modeler and still fun and easy to use, just allowing in the process to do more and better stuff.
And I would really like to hear a answer or opinion about this from you Google guys.
Thanks for reading and sorry the long text.
P.S: a special word for Coen: thanks for standing up for us 
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