Missing Debug|AnyCPU build config for projects and defaultiing to Debug|x86 on Windows x64

Question

I've just recently reinstalled Windows 7 x64 on my box. The installation succeeded and I've had no issues with the operating system as a whole. I believe there is a configuration issue with either Windows or .NET x64.

Symptoms

1. The default build configurations for new projects is Debug|x86.
   This doesn't feel right. I'm running an x64 OS and I'm reasonably confident that for the last three versions prior to this the default build config has been Debug|AnyCPU
2. AnyCPU does not exist as a build config for projects at all and I'm reasonably sure it should. To build anything x64 I need to explicitly add an x64 platform for the project

Am I correct in thinking that Debug|AnyCPU is normally the default config, If so, what are some possible causes for this not being the case for any new projects created

Answer 1

The default for new projects was changed to x86 in Visual Studio 2010 - you can read some of MS' reasoning for this on this blog. You should be able to add Any CPU as an additional platform in the Configuration Manager dialog though. I have Vista x64 & VS 2010 and get options for Any CPU, x64 & Itanium. You could try re-running the installer for VS and see if there were any options you didn't install.

EDIT: Interestingly, it seems x86 is only the default for new EXE projects - if you create a new Class Library project it will default to Any CPU. This makes sense as it is the platform of the EXE that determines which version of the CLR to run, whereas an Any CPU DLL can be loaded by both x86 & x64 EXEs.