The only reason they are synonymous is by coincidence. Todays platforms are mainly 32 bit. In C/C++, Integer on a 64bit platform is 64bits, so it will not by synonymous at that point. If you work on a 16 bit system in C, Integer would be 16bits.
As for WHY should BlitzMax be like most languages? Because most of these languages are fairly mature and BlitzMax will probably be used by people who program in multiple languages.
If you make it different than other languages "Just because", then you are going to frustrate those who have to switch between languages because this is not a syntactical difference.
Data Sizes have been defined for a very long time. Why make it non standard? If you standardize your data sizes it will also make it easier to interface with other languages.
As for WHY should BlitzMax be like most languages? Because most of these languages are fairly mature and BlitzMax will probably be used by people who program in multiple languages.
If you make it different than other languages "Just because", then you are going to frustrate those who have to switch between languages because this is not a syntactical difference.
Data Sizes have been defined for a very long time. Why make it non standard? If you standardize your data sizes it will also make it easier to interface with other languages.