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Program Files and Program Files (x86) - any way to merge these?
Hi, first off I know there has been discussion about this before - I'd like to ask something more specific.
I'm one of these people who just likes to keep applications on a separate partition (apart from those I consider as an integral part of the system, such as drivers etc...). Using this, I've found no problems installing applications such as Photoshop with x86 and x64 versions side-by-side to the same partition (Folder structure = P(rograms):\Adobe\Photoshop and P:\Adobe\Photoshop (64-Bit). By default, Photoshop would have installed x86 and x64 versions side-by-side in a similar structure in Program Files (x86) anyway.
What I'm saying is, I understand the idea in keeping x86 and x64 applications (and their resources) in separate directories for less confusion and cross-incompatibility issues, but do they have to be kept in entirely separate superdirectories? Wouldn't C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IE(x86) and C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IE(x64) work just as well for these dual versions as the standard layout?
I just like to be organised and keep things in one place.
On a side note, again I understand the needs to keep x86 and x64 separate, but seeing as I have a 64-bit machine, do I need x86 and x64 versions of apps like Sidebar and Defender? I know that IE x86 is there for compatibility with web standards (I'm looking at you, flash!) but it seems nonsense that I need two versions of, say, Windows Mail (just in case, you know, I happen to receive "32-bit E-Mail".