32 BIT vs 64 BIT systems

Was so looking forward to upgradind to a 64 bit system. Taking my old sony vaio ar-190 to the next level. Come to find out that some of the programs i use are not yet ready for the switch. Say my adobe photo, is not yet upgraded to 64 bit!!! And others. They just haven't got there yet to my understanding. Am I mistaken???? Why are so many big business's selling 64 bit, when they are using 32 bit programs????????
Will not give up on my old lappy yet Any input would be nice to hear.
Thanks
David M.

 

Memory limitation for the most part, 32 bit only supports 4gig of ram so its limiting current systems, 64 bit is something like 194terabytes...not sure exactly and cba to google.

 

What are you expecting by running 64-bit?

The only real advantage of a 64-bit OS is that you get to use over 4GB of system RAM. And a 64-bit OS will run 32-bit applications just fine. There really isn't a downside of going with a 64-bit OS, if you have 4GB of RAM or more.

The only tangible advantage of 64-bit programs is that they can use over 2GB of RAM per instance. Do not expect your computer or your programs to magically be faster just because you switched to 64-bit. Some programs may be faster in 64-bit, but don't count on it.

 

Yeah - welcome to reality.

If the issues you're having is a program actually not installing then you're at the mercy of the author to get an installer that will allow your program to load on Win7x64.

If you're simply noting that some programs are still effectively 32bit even in a 64bit environment, yeah that is the current reality (still! - I've been 64bit since 2007).

The advantage though is that as long as you have enough RAM, each 32 program will get the maximum RAM it can effectively utilize. While still giving the O/S the RAM resources it needs too.

The overall effect should be a more stable experience and of course being able to run multiple 32bit programs at 'full speed' should net you productivity gains too.

After all is said and done, running 32bit apps on a 64bit O/S is still preferred for stability/performance - however, changing/updating the same apps to natively be 64bit would in most cases not give any direct benefits in and of itself.

The programs/apps that will benefit the most with 64bit code have already been (mostly) updated - the remaining apps will slowly be replaced with their 64bit versions as time and budget constraints allow the software companies to introduce bits and pieces of 64bit code as painlessly and economically as possible.

As long as all your device drivers work for the hardware you depend on now (printers, scanners, etc.) know that the software side will eventually catch up.

I'm hoping as soon as programmers start writing for Win8x64.

 

Thank you every one.
Just had a conversation over the weekend about the 32 and 64 systems. To my understanding that as you say some of the programs don't load certain parts of their programing. Causing errors in running the said app, or not allowing it to function properly. With all the info you all have given I don't fear the switch so much now. Will have to find out more on which said apps take more of a hit with the 64 and simply steer clear of them.
Thank you again. Still learning this computer stuff.
Thanks
David M.

 

As I recall, with Windows 7 64-bit, it will even divide your applications based on whether or not they're 32 or 64 bit. 32 bit applications are placed in one folder, while 64 bit applications are placed in a separate folder. Either way, both should run properly, as long as they're supported in Windows 7 (there are some of those old legacy programs that will only run in XP or DOS, for example).

 

64 bit> 32 bit
* Addresses RAM in a smarter more efficient way
* Addresses stupidly more ram
* Programming is slightly more difficult, however allows for more flexibility in terms of how your program caches it self (HDD or RAM).
* Overall more stable then 32 bit.

If your still using 16 bit installers, that's just QQ.

 

I know this is anecdotal evidence but my HP DM3 runs much smoother with 64 bit Windows 7. I doubt the difference was only caused by the extra 0.8 GB usuable memory.

 

AMD64 has some other improvements besides additional addressable RAM, for example it has double the integer and SSE registers for 64-bit apps (might make it triple if you count that half the registers in 32-bit mode are unusable).

x86-64 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Ok good to know but my HP DM3 was one with Intel SU4100.

 

It's called AMD64, but Intel uses it also.

 

And Intel has X86 which AMD uses... Funny aint it? Lol.

 

yep the proper name for the 64-bit architecture based on x86 is 'AMD64' -- AMD created it and named it that. Doesn't matter what chip you use or who makes it, it still uses the AMD64 instructions and specification.

 

64 bit has been faster for me... compared to 32 bit on my old laptop , when i upgraded to 64 bit , the speed increased... so i'll always use 64 bit systems from now