Windows 7 Is Here, BUT

[DallasDad]

Just found Windows 7 computers for sale at HP and Dell, BUT... 32 bit was not available for W7 desktops.
The only OS option available was 64 bit!! I thought they were supposed to have 32 and 64 both?? :dontknow:

 

[draceena]

I know if you purchase Windows 7 separate from a computer you get both. As to why these 2 retailers are only selling the 64 bit version, I have no idea.

 

[Ian]

As HP and Dell are going to be selling systems that are almost all 64-bit then I assume they will only offer 64-bit installs by default in most cases. With a new system there isn't much point in going 32-bit

 

[clifford_cooley]

My guess would be if they want to sell a system with a clear path to upgrading memory past 4GB then a 64bit OS would be essential. Especially with the restore options on recovery partitions for future use.

 

[olg207]

could we have the links please, greatly appreciated

 

[DallasDad]

As HP and Dell are going to be selling systems that are almost all 64-bit then I assume they will only offer 64-bit installs by default in most cases.
With a new system there isn't much point in going 32-bit

...Except that I use Adobe Photoshop Elements, and some mapping software, and so far I've been unable to verify for sure that either of them is compatible with 64 bit.

I know some people will have use for 64 bit's high capacity RAM, but I've got 3G RAM and I've never needed more than that, so if
I can't run my software on it, 64 bit would be useless.

 

[DallasDad]

could we have the links please, greatly appreciated

Links to what, HP? It's not an article, it's just the HP site for custom ordering a computer, and as far as I can tell, 32 bit is not an option. Same thing with Dell. I only checked desktops, so I don't know about laptops.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do?storeName=computer_store&landing=desktops&a1=See+all&v1=series

 

[olg207]

Links to what, HP? It's not an article, it's just the HP site for custom ordering a computer, and as far as I can tell, 32 bit is not an option. Same thing with Dell. I only checked desktops, so I don't know about laptops.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do?storeName=computer_store&landing=desktops&a1=See+all&v1=series

sorry I mean the links for the dell and HP computer offering x64 version

 

[Kougar]

That is probably because there is no point in selling a new computer with more than 3GB of RAM if it only ships with 32bit Windows.

Even the cheapest desktops are usually selling with 3GB inside, with 4GB to as much as 8GB as an upgrade option. Midrange systems typically start at 4GB already.

...Except that I use Adobe Photoshop Elements, and some mapping software, and so far I've been unable to verify for sure that either of them is compatible with 64 bit.

As I've mentioned before, old version of Photoshop Elements may not work and it depends on your version. But if you are going to upgrade the OS you might as well upgrade to the latest version of Elements for the better compatibility and features.

 

[Orlbuckeye]

Even Vista machines sold in the last year

were mostly 64 bit. The issue for the manufacturers is that a 64 bit OS will run both 32 and 64 bit software and a 32 bit OS won't run 64 Bit software at all. Maybe it will force Adobe to make a 64 bit version of Flash.

My brother in law had a copy of Elements 7.0 and he was having issues. He called Adobe and they said his issue was his processor speed wasn't 2.0 GHZ.

 

[gaz]

if you buy it you get 2 separate discs,32 bit and the other 64 bit

 

[Darr247]

I'm just waiting for the shutdowns to start every 2 hours, then I'll be installing Fedora 12 (scheduled release - Nov 2009) on the machine which I used for testing the beta and RC. I still can't get over the way you can't tell which folders are shared by just looking (sorry, no - I don't care to float the cursor over each folder one at a time), and the way the desktop manager shuts off every time an Aero-unaware program starts, making you run and step through the troubleshooter to re-enable it. et cetera.
Being able to run a virtual XP is not that attractive. The only program without a linux version that I care anything about is AutoCAD, so hopefully AutoDesk will wise up and get moving on a pure POSIX release and I can eliminate using WINE for that, too. SE-Linux still appears to have a better handle on security than windows, though 7 is an improvement (and I do like it better than vista).

 

[DallasDad]

I finally emailed Adobe Support concerning Adobe Photoshop Elements vs 64 bit; Adobe specifically stated that both "PSE 7 and 8 are incompatible with 64 bit systems." They offered no further explanation.

I didn't bother to email back and ask why you can order PSE 7 on a new HP or Dell Windows 7 computer that only comes in the 64 bit version.

Sounds like someone's left hand doesn't know what their right hand is doing, to say the least.

 

[Kougar]

DallasDad... I downloaded and installed the Photoshop Elements 8 trial. It works fine on my 64bit Windows 7 system and I've not observed any problems with it. PSE 8 only comes in a 32bit version.

 

[Thrax]

All recent versions of Photoshop work just fine on Windows 7 x64. I have tried PS 6.5, CS2, CS3 and CS4.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Just found Windows 7 computers for sale at HP and Dell, BUT... 32 bit was not available for W7 desktops.
The only OS option available was 64 bit!! I thought they were supposed to have 32 and 64 both?? :dontknow:

Because these are NEW systems. Most the computer makers and others are moving to x64 as much as possible. Its a better OS and utilizes the full capabilities of RAM.

Virtually all new CPU are x64 and so are the mobos for them.

Nearly all x86 software will run on x64 OS platforms since a folder called "Program Files (x86) is installed when the x64 OS is installed.

In a few years x86 will be a thing of the past. x64 is here to stay. Intel and MS are also looking at 128 bit CPUs and OS for the near future (about 4-5 years or so).

 

[DallasDad]

DallasDad... I downloaded and installed the Photoshop Elements 8 trial. It works fine on my 64bit Windows 7 system and I've not observed any problems with it. PSE 8 only comes in a 32bit version.

Thanks for the 1st hand report Kougar, I appreciate it.

 

[Darr247]

Open a terminal window and (as root) run

yum install kernel-PAE

and your 32-bit linux will use up to 64GB of RAM... as long as your CPU supports the physical address extensions, and most dual core or better CPUs do.

I believe the majority of systems right now would get more performance boost out of their 32-bit programs being able to use over 4GB of memory than they would get from the (dearth of) 64-bit programs available so far.
That situation will probably flip-flop within a few years, of course.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Please note a 32Bit program can only address 4GB of memory even if it is installed on a 64Bit OS.

In order to address 64GB memory the OS would need to be atleast 36Bits wide. And this would not be possible on a 32Bit system. Please enlighten me if there is something I am missing here.

 

[Darr247]

Please enlighten me if there is something I am missing here.

Possibly the obvious: more than one 32-bit program can be running at once.

And, that it's only 32-bit windows that has the 4GB memory limit.

As I said previously, I'll be installing Fedora 12 on the machine currently running Win7 RC. And I won't wait for its first major upgrade before doing so, either... as I've done with Win3 (waited for 3.11 W4W), Win95 (waited for SR2), Win98 (waited for 98se) and XP (waited for SP1). I never installed vista on anything.

I've been running Win7 for about 9 months now (betas, then RC), and they did not fix a single thing I've seen wrong with it, so why would I want to buy it or encourage anyone else to buy it? Maybe when its SP1 comes out I'll see what changes were made... but as it looks right now, when MS drops support for XP it will be the end of my windows days.