Python, Reportlabs, Pil and Windows 7 (64bit)

[Martin v. Loewis]

>> I have a Windows 7 (64bit AMD) machine

This is somewhat imprecise: is it
a) that your CPU is AMD64, and thus supports 64-bit mode, or
b) that *in addition*, your Windows 7 installation is a 64-bit
installation, or
c) that *in addition*, your Python installation is also a 64-bit
   installation.

Unless you have a specific need for 64-bit mode, I recommend that you
use the 32-bit version of Windows (unless you have more than 4GB of
main memory), and (even if you have a 64-bit Windows) you install the
32-bit version of Python on it (unless you have the need to access more
than 2GB of objects in your Python applications.

>> 1. Reportlabs / Pil 32 installers - I've tried using these but they
>> can't find python. I also tried registering Python (http://effbot.org/
>> zone/python-register.htm) but this also fails.

Install the 32-bit version of Python, and these installers should work fine.

> Perhaps some expert on the python list knows which versions of VS
> support 64bit; I do have VS 2005/2008 etc, but I'll probably need to set
> up a 64bit machine to see if they will install on a 64bit architecture.

For Python 2.6 and later, use VS 2008. This comes with an AMD64
compiler. You technically don't need a 64-bit Windows, as it supports
cross-compilation (but you would need a 64-bit Windows to test it).

I personally build Python on a 32-bit machine, and move the MSI to a
64-bit machine for testing.

Regards,
Martin