Just curious what's going to happen when 32-bit programs go obsolete? Will just Windows not be able to run the programs? Or is Intel and such going to drop support for it in their CPUs down the road? A lot of my software is still 32-bit. I don't run a lot of 64-bit stuff, so I don't see why they are looking into making 32-bit software obsolete.
Not sure if it's a rumor, but I heard Windows 9 will be 64-bit only.
A 32-bit operating system has the ability to run 32 bit applications and has backwards compatibility for 16 bit applications.
Today, a modern generation Windows 64bit system can run 32 bit applications with backwards support for the 32bit applications. However, it doesn't go back any further, so 16 bit apps are out.
So, in the event that Microsoft makes Windows 8 or 9 64bit only...that simply means there will be no 32bit version of the operating system itself. This does NOT mean that only 64bit software will work with it.
I'm sure that 32 bit programs will continue to run for at least 10 more years.
Even if Windows 9 will be 64-bit only, most likely it will be able to run 32-bit programs. Windows 7 64-bit runs 32-bit apps perfectly and there is no reason for this to change in future Windows versions.
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