COM add-ins for Office 2010 x 64

[GRoston]

One of the most useful Outlook add-ins is Pocketknife Peek. This add-in provides the means to look inside an email message without actually opening it. This means that if there are any nasty surprises, you can spot them without triggering them. Needless to say, I installed this immediately after installing Office 2010.

The problem is that the add-in only works with 32 bit versions of Outlook. (I exchanged several emails with the author.) He also indicated that rewriting the add-in for 64 bit support would require signifcant effort and that compatibility with other add-ins might be spotty as well.

The raises three questions:

1. Why is rewriting for 64 bit so challenging? I remember (showing my age) that properly written C could be compiled for 16 bit or 32 bit with nary a change.
2. Is it likely that many existing add-ins will not be available for 64 bit versions of Office?
3. Can you recommend an add-in which provides the functionality of Peek that will work in Office 2010, 64 bit.

p.s. Just to be clear - I have no interest in Pocketknife other than being a satisfied customer (or should I say user as the product is freeware...)

 

[ccatlett1984]

Office 64bit is new, the programmer has to learn all the new 64bit api calls. As far as many add-ins being available, thats up to the company/creator to decide if its worth the trouble to re-code the add-in.