In the
announcements about the 64bit version of FL, the only comment about FS so far is "under review".
Given that there are a few items to which they have said a definite "No", maybe that gives some grounds for optimism (i.e. they would like to keep it, but don't want to hold up their release due to DSPr struggling to meet deadlines).
OTOH - from IL's point of view, dropping FS support is unlikely to be a "deal breaker" for the vast majority of their customers who value 64bit support. Building, as opposed to just using, plugins is a very "fringe" interest, and few users are likely to place much reliance on what might be seen as "amateur" plugins, most of which likely duplicate features that a quick Google search will easily find free replacements for.
The crucial factor, and one we cannot easily assess, is how well DSPr's sales into the education market are doing. My experience from my job, where we sell into exactly that market, is that those users prefer to pay for annual support contracts, and deny access to outside websites from their classroom networks - hence we're unlikely to see many of those guys here, giving us a very biased view of the user base. (our forum is dominated by "hobbyists", yet we know that such users account for only 2-3% of our sales).
For those users, 64 bits support is of very little consequence - none of our company's software is 64bit, and I could count the number of requests we've had for 64bit on one hand, out of many thousands of users.
They know that the students who do go on to make a career out of their studies will inevitably end up using whatever tools their employer requires, so the primary requirement is just for something that teaches the "basic principles" easily. So long as Windows continues to execute 32bit applications, the "bit depth" of their teaching aids is just not a consideration (especially for the bean-counters who hold the purse-strings!).
For me, FS does what I want in its present form, and the whole 64bit debate has always brought to mind the old phrase "only a bad workman blames his tools."
If you want to make 'professional quality' plugins (whatever that might be), you put in your '10,000' hours to become expert at doing that, like any other profession, and use tools that do the job "right now" and with a high likelihood of a long term future (e.g. C++ isn't going to suddenly disappear any time soon, and doesn't rely on a single, small supplier for its tools).
OTOH, for "amateur" developers, folks who want an easy route into a very complex subject, or a fast way to prototype concepts, I still think FS is unbeatable - and as long as that remains true, I'm happy to keep renewing my licence. But I have no interest in gambling my hard-earned wages for 'vapour-ware' - what a waste if it turns out that 64bit is in the pipeline anyway!
PS) For those who are interested in the 'kickstarter' idea (I may not be with you on this, but I'm certainly not against!). When we propose new software projects, we estimate programmer costs at £200 per person, per day.
