windows 7 32bit or 64?

i have a vista pc with 2gb ram which is currently 32bit

which windows 7 should i upgrade to, windows 32 or 64?

You need to make sure there are 64-bit drivers for all your hardware before going 64-bit.

If you plan on running windows 7 64bit, you should upgrade your ram to 4gb.... while it would probably run on only 2gb, the experience would be less than satisfactory...

Perhaps I am misinterpreting that statement (forgive me if I am), but it seems to imply that 2Gb would drag down a 64-bit system. That is not true. 64-bit does not require more RAM - but it will utilize more RAM if available. The operating system will still take advantage of 64-bit even with 2Gb of RAM installed, but it may not be noticeable. Bumping your system to 4Gb will indeed improve performance with 32-bit or 64-bit. But because of overhead and addressing restrictions, a 32-bit system will only see around 3Gb while a 64-bit system can take advantage of the full 4Gb, plus much more.

Either way, your hardware MUST support 64-bit if you wish you go that way. If you can't find 64-bit drivers, you would be better off sticking to 32-bit, or upgrade your hardware first. Note that in "most" cases, 64-bit Vista drivers will work fine with Win7.

I have two PC's runing 32bit and one running 64bit honestly havent noticed much difference. One thing that you might like to consider is that its harder to get old programs, and devices to run on 64bit. so if you have a 7 year old printer or so i would stick to 32bit.

Eventually, every program is going to be 64-bit. It's just a matter of time.

I agree, but the problem is, most 32-bit programs run just fine on 64-bit systems, and there are still many more 32-bit systems out there. It takes a lot more resources (as in manhours) for software makers to develop two versions of the same program so right now, there is little financial incentive for them to do so.

I think if you're ever going to want more than 3Gb of system memory, you'll need to have a 64-Bit version of windows. Not sure about Win7, but I think 32-Bit Vista only supports up to 3Gb. (Although I've also read that 32-bit can also support up to 4Gb, not sure which is accurate)

I remember back when 512Mb of ram was a lot, now we're all running several Gigs.. so it may pay off going with a 64-Bit OS to be ready for memory upgrades.

Togsy said:

i have a vista pc with 2gb ram which is currently 32bit

which windows 7 should i upgrade to, windows 32 or 64?

Drivers Drivers Drivers!!! + 64-bit software support!!!

If you already know what software you'll be running/working with then do your research/homework on 64-bit drivers and software before deciding on which Version of the OS you want.

Some software/hardware may not/will not work on, or can be problematic to work with under a 64-bit OS. And "more" RAM isn't always the answer if your software or hardware isn't supported under a 64-bit OS!

When I moved to Vista x64, the move was costly in both hardware and software...but that was a choice I made, and some things I had to either give up on, or keep my 32-bit XP OS installed on another hard drive.

It's easy for people to tell you to "just upgrade", but at $400 dollars for a program like Colorbye's Image Print software or $900-1000 dollars for a Nikon Film scanner, that can be quite costly

Sure, 64-bit supports more memory and is supposed to be better optimized for software and hardware but... do you need more than 4gig of memory??? And.. is the hardware/software "you" use going to be optimized for 64?

In the end i'm using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit with 4gig of RAM, but to be honest, I seriously thought about going to Windows 7 32-bit (from Vista 64-bit) but in the end I like tinkering and learning so...

Outside of that, for what I do on a daily basis, a 32-bit OS would have worked for me just as well :)

Just something to think about before deciding on either a 32 or 64-bit OS.

Did I mention Drivers + 64-bit software support?