Windows 7: Why 64 bits?

This is probably a question difficult to answer, hope you guys will have a go anyway...



Will the general feel of my Windows 7 Ultimate be faster in 64 bits?
It was often said that this goes for a limited quantity of programs only.

Are there any serious pitfalls?
Like (groups of) software that will stop working?

I have a PC, a Netbook and a Notebook on a mixed LAN/WLAN network.
I am very happy with my setup, and I tweaked my PC's Core Duo to almost 4 GHz so it's running pretty fast, but some more speed can't hurt...

Much like this thread says, http://www.sevenforums.com/general-d...omparison.html, unless you're using 64-bit apps with 4 GB of RAM or more, you may not notice any tangible performance difference.

We need more info about your system specs to be of much help.

Generally speaking if you have a cpu that can run it and lots of ram (4 gigs or more) 64 bit will run somewhat faster on some/most applications. It will not be able to run some 32 bits apps, and you will not be able to run 64 bit flash, or adobe.

If you dont know why you need it you dont.

Ken

I don't find with any proof that the general operating system (Windows) itself runs any faster between 32-bit and 64-bit. However, usually 64bit systems do have a bit more RAM...so any speed increases are most likely the result of the increased RAM and not the fact that 64 bit is faster or more efficient.

Any pitfalls? For sure. Any piece of hardware that you use, both internally in the computer, as well as external perhipherals MUST have a 64-bit driver to work. If you have no 64-bit driver, it's not going to work. As far as software goes, a 64-bit OS can run 64-bit apps and 32-bit apps. However, it cannot run 16-bit apps...so if you have any of those...they aren't going to work.

Some applications (those using large datasets), benefit greatly from 64-bit. However, you have to have a 64-bit processor, a 64-bit OS as well as a 64-bit application. These big apps consist of things like large databases (SQL Server, Exchange Server), graphics and photo editing packages (Photshop, CAD stuff, etc), and potentially media encoding applications.

Therefore, the overwhelming majority of software that most consumers use won't be any faster as you will still be using the 32bit version or it simply won't be a big enough dataset to really benefit from the 64-bit version.

Personally, I would not go from a 32bit box to a 64bit box simply to get a little more speed. I would upgrade if you were going to run native 64-bit apps or wanted to expand your RAM to 4GB or more.

well I do not understand those recommandations to stay with 32bit.

64bit is the future, same price and at least not slower than 32bit.
So if you do not need 32 bit due to specific reasons (special drivers or old apps), why to recommend 32 bit?

My recommendation was not necessarily 32bit. But if you already have a 32bit system up and running and your sole hope is to eek a bit more speed out of things by upgrading to 64-bit...I don't recommend making the change as I don't think it will really result in anything measureable.

However, if you are starting new and know that you don't have hardware or software issues...by all means go 64-bit.

Thanks for your advice.
I'll stick to 32 bits - for the time being.
Got several very old apps, even some from Windows 98 or DOS days.

Especially if you use DOS (16-bit) apps, you will need to stick to 32-bit. If you ever do upgrade to 64-bit, you can still run them either with DOSBox or a Virtual Machine (XP Mode or VMware Player).