[Mike McBain]

G'day Magicians

I am awaiting Win8 Pro and Surface but I don't understand the difference or advantages of 32 v 64 Bit?

I have 64 Bit on my Win7 laptop but it will not run some of my older and very important programs and I have not been successful in attempting to run the work around programs so my current preference would be Win8 Pro 32 Bit.

Can anyone tell me if such an animal exists or will exist?

If it does or will are there disadvantages between 32 Bit and 64 Bit and what are they?

With thanks for your expert opinions

Mike

[gurutech]

32-bit only supports up to 3gb of RAM, while 64-bit will support up to 16gb (I believe - maybe more). This all depends on whether the hardware supports it.

I've always had difficulty getting some older 32-bit (and 16-bit) apps from running on a 64-bit OS. Haven't tried with my copy of Win8 yet, but not sure if they have better compatibility than Win7 does...

[TheShooter93]

You should definitely go with the 64-bit operating system.

Most computers are shipped with 64-bit operating systems by default nowadays, it is now the "standard" whereas 5 or 6 years ago, 32-bit was.

You may have some problems with older software, but that is really the only drawback.

As gurutech said, you can have much more RAM in a 64-bit system than a 32-bit system. Current motherboards cap out around 32GB I believe, but theoretically the OS could handle much, much more.

[Mike McBain]

Guys, thanks for the replies but I don't run a computer for max RAM I run it to extract productivity from my software which would cost many thousands to have re-written for 64bit.

Am I correct in thinking that greater RAM capacity only gives me faster speed if I should require that which I don't?

What I require is a system that runs my very valuable almost irreplaceable older software so from what you both say then it is essential that I stay with 32bit systems.

I was hoping that the newer hardware might offer me greater portability and other benefits.

I wonder what else Win 8 might offer me in the way of problems or benefits?

Cheers and thanks

Mike.

[TheShooter93]

Windows 8 will likely offer some updated security and some new features, though it will be 6 months to a year or so until all the kinks are worked out after official release (like all new OS releases).

If you're looking to just run specific software on these computers that is only 32-bit compatible, then go with 32-bit.

[Mike McBain]

Thanks TS93, do you think 32bit will continue to be available for Win8 and hardware like Surface?

[TheShooter93]

Windows 8 will be available in 32-bit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8

As far as "Surface" goes, 32-bit versions should be available but it depends on what they choose to ship. The tablets will be using the same OS, and since the OS will be available in 32-bit, I don't know why they wouldn't at least make it an option for some.

[Mike McBain]

TS93, perfect that is exact;y the info I was seeking thank you.

[TheShooter93]

You're welcome.

[Triple6]

You can always run your 16-bit programs in a virtual machine such as VirtualPC, VirtualBox, VMWare Player, or others, you'd just have to install or migrate a current installation of Windows XP, WIndows 7, or DOS to it. Windows 8 Pro will come with Hyper-V support for it's own virtualization support, Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate had something called XP Mode for legacy programs.