64 vs 32bit?

T

Tim Slattery

G. Morgan said:
Since most newer PC's have a 64bit chip, it makes sense to take advantage of
that. Of course, software developer's must write code for native 64 bit to get
the full benefit.
Click to expand...

Yes, but even so...

Running a 64-bit OS on 64-bit hardware will allow you to use much more
RAM. Even if you're using 32-bit programs, you can keep more of them
in RAM at a time, even if they're memory-hungry monsters like image
and video editors. That will make them as well as and your less
demanding programs run faster.

If those resource grabbers were rewritten for 64-bit mode, they would
be able to use more memory and do more fancy things with bigger files
in less time, but 64-bit computing an benefit 32-bit programs also.


It's going to take some time before all developers jump on
 
K

Ken Blake

Hi There,

The question is:

Were can one get 64 bit programs.

I only know of

http://www.x64bitdownload.com/new-software.html
Click to expand...


You can get them in all the same places you can get 32-bit
programs--web sites, brick-and-mortar stores, etc.

Some programs come in your choice of 32-bit or 64-bit (Microsoft
Office 2010, for example), some come only in 32-bit (WordPerfect, for
example), and some only in 64-bit (at least in theory, although I
can't think of any examples).

Most programs still have only 32-bit versions, but that will be
changing more and more in the near future.
 
J

Joe Morris

You can get them in all the same places you can get 32-bit
programs--web sites, brick-and-mortar stores, etc.

Some programs come in your choice of 32-bit or 64-bit (Microsoft
Office 2010, for example), some come only in 32-bit (WordPerfect, for
example), and some only in 64-bit (at least in theory, although I
can't think of any examples).
Click to expand...

One interesting datum: although as you say Office 2010 is available in both
32-bit and 64-bit versions, Microsoft very strongly recommends *against*
using the 64-bit version unless you have a need to use huge data files
(typically Excel or Access).

For my shop that makes our job a bit easier: we don't have to simultaneously
support 32-bit Office 2010 for 32-bit XP *and* 64-bit Office 2010 for 64-bit
Windows 7.

I don't know where the warning might be on the public MS pages; I ran across
it on the download site used by volume licensees where it showed up on the
page where you choose whether to download the 32-bit or 64-bit kit.

Joe Morris
 
K

Ken Blake

One interesting datum: although as you say Office 2010 is available in both
32-bit and 64-bit versions, Microsoft very strongly recommends *against*
using the 64-bit version unless you have a need to use huge data files
(typically Excel or Access).
Click to expand...


Yes, thanks. I personally run Office 2010 in its 32-bit version under
my 64-bit Windows 7 installation.
 
S

Seth

Joe Morris said:
One interesting datum: although as you say Office 2010 is available in
both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, Microsoft very strongly recommends
*against* using the 64-bit version unless you have a need to use huge data
files (typically Excel or Access).

For my shop that makes our job a bit easier: we don't have to
simultaneously support 32-bit Office 2010 for 32-bit XP *and* 64-bit
Office 2010 for 64-bit Windows 7.

I don't know where the warning might be on the public MS pages; I ran
across it on the download site used by volume licensees where it showed up
on the page where you choose whether to download the 32-bit or 64-bit kit.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they're saying that strictly for backwards compatibility with activeX
and other 3rd party add-ins.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee681792.aspx
 
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