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So my question is regarding The end of time (Unix), will this occur on a 64bit Windows 7 OS, that is virtualizing a 32bit version of Windows XP?

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Partially yes. I've seen some ActivePerl applications fail to run if local date is after year 2038. It's because they use 32-bit UNIX-style time_t, and that does not depend on host OS (64-bit or 32-bit Windows).

Latest Microsoft libc is using 64-bit time_t, but older applications compiled with Visual Studio 6.0 depend on 32-bit time_t, so they will have date overflow problems in 2038. This does not affect applications using pure Windows API (GetFileTime, GetSystemTimeAsFileTime etc.), even if they are compiled with Visual Studio 6.0.

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  • No, Windows has always provided a non UNIX time function like GetSystemTime(), which has no Y2038 issue. Windows provides a 32-bit UNIX type time as well for developers who chose to use it. After the Visual Studio 6 days and moving on to win2000, a 64-bit UNIX style time has been provided as well. Windows went through the height of the Y2K panic where people were setting their clocks in to the future for testing! May 6, 2021 at 23:03
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Windows doesn't store the time the same way as Unix systems, and the Y2038 problem will not affect Windows XP or Windows 7.

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Starting with Windows 2000, all Windows operating systems have used Win32Time, which is not subject to the same limitations as Unix time.

Therefore, no, the "End of Time" will not occur on neither your 32-bit client nor your 64-bit host.

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