32bit vs 64bit

[moveit]

I have Windows 7 Professional 32bit loaded. Like all previous operating systems I can run a 1988 old DOS program. I have been advised to go to 64bit and get the full advantages of 7. My big worry is that I read 64bit will not run many old DOS and Windows based programs and I do not want to start buying newer software which would mean a vast expense. Should I stay with 32bit or can I safely go to 64bit?

Also, before Windows 7 was released, I heard that Microsoft was going to allow home users to have more than one computer loaded with 7. Is this true?

All help gratefully received.

 

[spthomas]

It's not just old DOS programs. I have Windows 7 64-bit, and while it will run most 32-bit programs, I have several that just will not run on 64 bit.

For example, the updater that updates the firmware in my bluetooth headset just won't run, no matter what. Same for my E-book reader software.

 

[vacunita]

I don't see what full advantage 64bit can provide that 32bit can't, other than slightly more ram support, and bigger headaches.

I'd say stay with 32 bit until you have real reason to change.

Like a 64bit machine, with 64bit drives available for it.

Otherwise there's no real advantage.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[moveit]

Thanks spthomas & vacunita

Do you know about Microsoft allowing home users to put the Windows 7 on at least 2 computers?

 

[vacunita]

As with all Windows Licenses, only one PC can run the same Win7 OS at any one time.

If you need to install it on a second PC, you need a second Windows 7 license, or to uninstall it from the first PC.

But its not like they are going to come to your house and slap your naughty hands if you try.





----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[moveit]

Thanks vacunita

I thought it was too good to be true.

 

[Freestone]

Perhaps you were thinking of Windows 7 Home Family Pack?

 

[moveit]

When 7 was about to be released in the UK I did read that Microsoft was going to allow home users to install its 7 OS on at least 2 home computers. I do not remember it being mentioned that it only applied to Home Family Pack

 

[linney]

32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/41531554-d5ef-4f2c-8fb9-149bdc5c8a701033.mspx

List of limitations in 64-Bit Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/282423#appliesto

Windows Virtual PC
Download Windows XP Mode

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Windows XP Mode (Windows 7 only, but not any of the Home versions) "You are not eligible to download Windows XP Mode. You must have Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate to run Windows XP Mode".



You could also look at this.

Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack

http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Windows-7-Home-Premium-Upgrade-Family-Pack/product/87DFFF11

"Windows 7 Family Pack is a limited time offer and subject to stock on hand. Limit ten (10) Windows 7 Family Packs per order and per customer."

If you are in the UK read this.

Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack for 3 PC's is Back!

http://clubhouse.microsoft.com/Public/Post/e18a6806-987f-47b0-b7d5-bd9825cb4cd9

It would appear that Windows XP Mode and Family Pack are not possible together as the Family Pack seems to be limited to Home Premium editions?


Make older programs run in this version of Windows (Windows 7)

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-Windows

Help with Windows 7 compatibility problems

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/compatibility

Windows 7 Compatibility Center

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15&displaylang=en

 

[moveit]

Thanks linney.

These sites have helped me.

 

[PRPhx]

1) Windows 7 will probably be the last 32 bit OS. Windows server 2008 IS the last 32 bit server OS, so it follows that desktop OS's will be 64 bit only also.

2) Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade is available for $149. It allows you to install Windows 7 32/64 bit on up to 3 pc's and is available. I found this: windows 7 family pack 2010 from a google search.

64 bit OS's just have too much to offer to worry about 32 bit OS's. Probably the biggest is the amount of RAM you can use. 32 bit Windows 7 is stilllimited to about 3.5 GB, while the 64 bit Ultimate can access 192 GB of RAM.
Look here to see the restricts on each ver.:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/max-memory-limits-for-64-bit-windows-7/4254

 

[vacunita]

1) Windows 7 will probably be the last 32 bit OS. Windows server 2008 IS the last 32 bit server OS, so it follows that desktop OS's will be 64 bit only also.

I doubt it. With all the hardware out there that still doesn't have64 bit drivers available to it, its hard to see them making only 64bit OS. Remember, not everybody owns a new top of the line PC with 64bit compliant hardware. so for the most part 32bit drivers should still be around, as should 32 bit OSes. At least for another iteration.

[/quote]
2) Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade is available for $149. It allows you to install Windows 7 32/64 bit on up to 3 pc's and is available. I found this: windows 7 family pack 2010 from a google search.
[/quote]

The family pack is available, however for most regular upgrades its a 1 PC deal. The family pack contains 3 licenses for 3 PC's.

[/quote]
64 bit OS's just have too much to offer to worry about 32 bit OS's. Probably the biggest is the amount of RAM you can use. 32 bit Windows 7 is stilllimited to about 3.5 GB, while the 64 bit Ultimate can access 192 GB of RAM.
Look here to see the restricts on each ver.:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/max-memory-limits-for-64-bit-windows-7/4254

[/quote]
Really, other than more memory support I don't see the advantages. Seriously you need 8GB of ram jut to surf the web and open Microsoft Office? For most types of usage, including home, and office work 32 bit is still the best.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[PRPhx]

[/Quote]
Really, other than more memory support I don't see the advantages. Seriously you need 8GB of ram jut to surf the web and open Microsoft Office? For most types of usage, including home, and office work 32 bit is still the best.
[/Quote]

Maybe that's all you do, serf the web and open e-mail. Many ppl, myself, do a lot more than that. And some apps do/can take advantage of as much RAM as possible.

Doing a quick search of the major pc manufacturers, ALL include 64 bit Windows as their OS. So, again, yes Windows 7 will probably be the last OS that's offered in 32 bit. As far as servers go, Windows 2008 IS the last server ver to offer 32 bit.

As far as drivers go, I haven't had a problem yet finding a driver to work. Most are built into Windows 7 itself. AND as Windows 7 64 bit OS becomes more and more popular, the problem will be to find 32 bit drivers, if you really need it for something.

I think the same type of arguements were made with the move from 16bit os to 32 bit (even tho the 32 bit windows os still had plenty of 16bit code in it). The future of the 64 bit OS IS here, alive and well.

 

[strongm]

>Really, other than more memory support I don't see the advantages

<hmmm>

Example: more and more people are playing with digital images and video. For them, larger memory support is vital.

There are lots other benefits (e.g inherently faster data access, since we pull 64 bits into the CPU from memory in a cycle rather than 32 bits)

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Not to be pedantic, but the best tool is the one that does what you need to do..Does not matter if it is 32, 64 or any other bit.

I have graphics and animation programs that run better since I moved to 64bit, but they were designed to do that..Other of my memory intensive programs may not be helped since they are not built with 64bit capability.

If what you plan to use your system for does not require a 64bit processor or OS ( or for that matter a high-end processor at all) you could use a good simple netbook or notebook system for Email,web browsing, streaming video or most 'cloud' applications - A large fast hard drive ( or array), a fast internet connection and good NIC can be all most folks need.

A Lamborghini would be fun to have but not really needed to go get groceries.



To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[Nelviticus]

Here's a list of facts:
[ul][li]The Intel Atom CPU is 32-bit[/li]
[li]All netbooks use the Intel Atom CPU[/li]
[li]All netbooks are therefore 32-bit[/li]
[li]Therefore no netbook can run 64-bit Windows[/li]
[li]Netbooks are extremely popular and widespread[/li]
[li]Therefore 32-bit Windows is extremely popular and widespread[/li]
[li]even ignoring netbooks, there are millions upon millions of 32-bit only PCs out there in the world - old and new.[/li][/ul]
I'm not saying I want 32-bis OS's to hang around, I'm just saying that they'll be with us for a long time to come. I very much doubt that Windows 8 will be 64-bit only because Microsoft wouldn't be be able to sell it to a huge chunk of the market.

Regards


Nelviticus

 

[strongm]

Facts: revisited

>The Intel Atom CPU is 32-bit

You are about a year or so out of date. Both 32-bit and 64-bit Atoms exist. Indeed, only the Z5, Z6 and N2 series are incapable of running the x86-64 instruction set

>All netbooks use the Intel Atom CPU

Nope. MIPS and ARM are also used

>All netbooks are therefore 32-bit

Nope. For example, the entire Toshiba NB250 and NB300 ranges (yes, they are delivered with a 32-bit OS, but they can run 64-bit if you prefer)

>Netbooks are extremely popular and widespread

Indeed, but they are still a relatively small market share in comparison to laptops, desktops and servers.

>Therefore 32-bit Windows is extremely popular and widespread

The above, therefore, does not directly follow

>even ignoring netbooks, there are millions upon millions of 32-bit only PCs out there in the world - old and new

Sort of true - if you ignore the 'new' bit, given that Intel's mainstream processors have all been capable of running 64-bit code since the release of the Prescott-2M CPUs almost 5 years ago.


That being said, I mostly agree with your conclusion that we're not all going to switch to a 64-bit world overnight.

 

[Nelviticus]

Good point(s). Can I use the excuse that I wrote that before I had my coffee?

Nelviticus

 

[vacunita]

The point at the end is that there is still a lot of 32 bit market left out there to think that Microsoft would arbitrarily just release their next iteration OS in 64 bit flavor only and exclusively. They would continue what they are ding with Win7 and push the 64bit offer, while still having a 32 bit option available.

No I don't just browse the web and open office, but a huge chunk of the computer using population does exactly and only that. Yes there are some applications that use more memory, but you are starting to fall into a very specific category of users. Standard end users which comprise a large amount of the market don't use memory intensive apps as a matter of course.

Also I never said server OSes are not or should not be 64bit, those are a completely different beast. I was talking more about end user machines, yes like, netbooks, laptops, and desktops.

Most people don't have the newest top of the line machine that came pre-installed with 64 bit windows. Large amounts of user machines are 1 to 3 years old which for the most part had 32 bit OSes pre-installed. Its only more or less the end of last year and all this year with the release of Windows 7 that the 64bit OS has become more mainstream since it was introduced back in XP.

Also many corporate environments are still holding on for dear life to 32bit XP (I know of a few, important international ones). They are the hardest section of the PC market to get to upgrade. Even if they buy new PC's with a pre-installed 64bit OS they'll downgrade to 32bit XP in most cases in order to avoid compatibility issues.




----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/