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There is still a lot of computers out there, who's hardware cannot support the 64 bit OS. So I think the 32 bit will be around for a while yet.
Windows 7 64-bit - What's the point?
- Thread starter trentlad
- Start date
I'm currently at 95% memory usage on 8GB when I've got all my (useful, I have more) VM's running. I'll actually be moving to a workstation class machine with 16GB+ of RAM as soon as I get the purchase order signed off at work.
Heck, even my three home machines have 8GB.
Have you set it correctly in the BIOS?
I've been using a 64bit OS for the last 3 years and have never had any driver issues and that also includes a lot of obscure and old hardware too.
Main reason I upgraded was down to the fact I required more RAM for my VMs that I use for work.
One other thing although i'm still not sure if it is my imagination but I've always felt the 64-bit versions of XP and Vista run smoother than there 32bit counterparts.... Like I said though could just be my imagination.
@ paradigm where abouts in Macclesfield do you work?
Main reason I upgraded was down to the fact I required more RAM for my VMs that I use for work.
One other thing although i'm still not sure if it is my imagination but I've always felt the 64-bit versions of XP and Vista run smoother than there 32bit counterparts.... Like I said though could just be my imagination.
@ paradigm where abouts in Macclesfield do you work?
I was using Vista 32 bit and always bitched about how it's not important to use a 64 bit o/s. Could never understand it myself. Fact is 64 bit is the future and can address more RAM than the 32 bit architecture was intended to handle. All my 32 bit apps work fine on 64 bit which was my only concern. What's the point installing a 32 bit o/s, only to decide that the 4GB RAM you got for a song in the Members Market is no use to your o/s? lol !
I would have preferred if Windows 7 was 64 bit only as well. There's no need to keep holding back future progression by catering for old hardware when it gets refreshed so quick in the PC market anyway. Anything super critical like servers won't be running Win 7 anyway so there is no need to provide 32 bit support.
The ONLY difference between a 64 bit system and a 32 bit system (fundamentally) is how much memory addressing space you get.
As memory requirements are quickly going up (as has been said, VRAM + RAM etc), surely the question has to be, why not 64 bit given its the same price and effectively the same code (compiling for x64 compared to x86 is literally no different...) as the 32 bit variants?
MS only provides 32 bit OSs now purely for legacy reasons, unfortunately suppliers such as Dell insist on shipping it where it should just be 64 bit.
Other manufacturers ship 64 bit as standard, Dell et al. need to catch up.
As memory requirements are quickly going up (as has been said, VRAM + RAM etc), surely the question has to be, why not 64 bit given its the same price and effectively the same code (compiling for x64 compared to x86 is literally no different...) as the 32 bit variants?
MS only provides 32 bit OSs now purely for legacy reasons, unfortunately suppliers such as Dell insist on shipping it where it should just be 64 bit.
Other manufacturers ship 64 bit as standard, Dell et al. need to catch up.
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I think its inconclusive already going by peoples responses, but go 64!
a lot of people still seem afraid to go 64bit after the driver issues people used to get, but that was.... 5-6 years ago?. I'v been using 64bit os's for almost 4 years and not a single problem.
These days you should be more afraid about installing a 32bit os, especially if you like to game
.
a lot of people still seem afraid to go 64bit after the driver issues people used to get, but that was.... 5-6 years ago?. I'v been using 64bit os's for almost 4 years and not a single problem.
These days you should be more afraid about installing a 32bit os, especially if you like to game
.
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The x64 distribution of Windows does have more differences than that, features such as PatchGuard.
Well, there is quite a lot of difference between 32 and 64 bit depending on how you look at it. Microsoft have recommended for a while that the "bitness" of the OS matches the CPU. I don't know how these OEMs get away with selling machines with 4GB of RAM and 32 bit Windows.
It's madness. My Acer laptop has 4Gb of ram and a 512Mb nVidia graphics card yet came preinstalled with Vista 32bit
. Luckily I had a 64Bit Vista (Now x64 W7) OEM disk to hand!
Soldato
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A bit like saying, what's wrong with 16 or 8 bit?
Won't somebody think of the smaller bits?
Won't somebody think of the smaller bits?
My sister bought a Compaq PC recently and it came with W7 Home Premium 64-bit despite having 2GB RAM.
I think Dell business PCs/notebooks come with 64-bit versions of Pro. All the Studio laptops I have set up for a client this past 6 months have been 64-bit.
I guess the consumer ones are still 32-bit, which is terrible. The only reason I can think of is they don't want all the extra support requests from people not being able to use certain software/hardware on their 64bit OS. Though this is more of an excuse than a proper reason, and a bad excuse at that!
Concerning 64-bit and compatability with hardware, it is usually due to poor or no support from the manufacturer rather than age, at least from my own experience.
EDIT: Which reminds me, in 64-bit Windows all drivers have to be signed or you can't install them. This doesn't necessarily stop bad things happening, but you can trace bad drivers back to the company who developed them. Which is usually a good way of getting them to write good quality software.
I guess the consumer ones are still 32-bit, which is terrible. The only reason I can think of is they don't want all the extra support requests from people not being able to use certain software/hardware on their 64bit OS. Though this is more of an excuse than a proper reason, and a bad excuse at that!
Concerning 64-bit and compatability with hardware, it is usually due to poor or no support from the manufacturer rather than age, at least from my own experience.
EDIT: Which reminds me, in 64-bit Windows all drivers have to be signed or you can't install them. This doesn't necessarily stop bad things happening, but you can trace bad drivers back to the company who developed them. Which is usually a good way of getting them to write good quality software.
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im upgrading to 64 bit and getting 8 gig of ram
Ok so going by most responses, the memory really is the main benefit which is important if required in mass by your applications (i.e. CAD, rendering, Virtual Machines,etc). Another point that I really liked was how installing 64-bit OS is more of an encouragement to get the ball rolling on 64-bit apps, if there are way more people on a 32-bit OS then developers are bound to feed the masses over the minority.
I liked the analogy earlier about going to an Formula 1 forum and saying, lets use my Corsa instead of wasting resources on F1 cars. The problem at the moment, there is no bloody fuel for the F1 cars! I can only find a handful of 64-bit apps and its not anything I'd use regularly (saying that, IE 64-bit has to be fastest browser I've used to date and I hate IE).
The 64-bit driver issues I had before were mostly with Vista 64-bit. Back when the 4870 was first released, the amount that bugger crashed on 64-bit drivers was annoying a hell. I had a dual boot with XP and it ran seamlessly on 32-bit drivers. There were only a couple of other driver issues but it didn't seem worth tackling them again. Sounds like most issues with 64-bit drivers have had enough time to be ironed out now.
Cheers peeps.
I liked the analogy earlier about going to an Formula 1 forum and saying, lets use my Corsa instead of wasting resources on F1 cars. The problem at the moment, there is no bloody fuel for the F1 cars! I can only find a handful of 64-bit apps and its not anything I'd use regularly (saying that, IE 64-bit has to be fastest browser I've used to date and I hate IE).
The 64-bit driver issues I had before were mostly with Vista 64-bit. Back when the 4870 was first released, the amount that bugger crashed on 64-bit drivers was annoying a hell. I had a dual boot with XP and it ran seamlessly on 32-bit drivers. There were only a couple of other driver issues but it didn't seem worth tackling them again. Sounds like most issues with 64-bit drivers have had enough time to be ironed out now.
Cheers peeps.
