Should I install 32bit or 64bit Microsoft Office 2010?

I just picked up my copy of Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus from my college. During the custom install it told me it was installing 32bit Office however 64bit is included on the disc but may have less compatability such as with third party add-ins. I don't think I've ever used a third party but I'm not sure which version I should go for. Usually I'd use 64bit since I have a 64bit OS (with the exception I use 32bit IE) but Microsoft recomends 32bit for "Standard Users". Which version do you recomend I use? I would consider myself a standard user for the most part, but still take advantage of more advanced features (my most common being equation editing tools).

 

do you have mult-GB excel spreadsheet ?

 

I initially installed the x64 version, but I had one problem in that it would not sync w/ my Nokia phone. The 32bit version syncs just fine. Were it not for that, I'd have kept the x64 installation.

 

Well, I do have a Windows Phone 7, and I do use Office Mobile 2010 on it. I've never read anything on it though on whether 32bit or 64bit should be used. The only way for me to sync documents however is via Sharepoint or Email.

 

Never even close to a MB. I use graphs and special features in the graphs, as well as the forumla tools.

 

Definitely 32-bit. Many third party add-ons (ie: Adobe Acrobat) won't work with the 32-bit version of Office, and really, there are few benefits that matter to most users. If you're not working with 2GB+ Excel files, then you're only going to bump into problems with Office 64-bit, not benefits.

 

Ok, I'm going to go 32bit, especially since I literally just installed Adobe Acrobat Pro X.

 

I think the intent was for this to read:

"Definitely 32-bit. Many third party add-ons (ie: Adobe Acrobat) won't work with the 64-bit version of Office, and really, there are few benefits that matter to most users. If you're not working with 2GB+ Excel files, then you're only going to bump into problems with Office 64-bit, not benefits."

And this is correct, there is no compelling reason (other than large files) to go with the 64bit version of Office.

Gary

P.S. If MidnightSun edits the post, I'll go ahead and delete this one.

 

well I found, 32bit running is bit faster than 64bit version, when open up the same file. and i couldnt find any other compatible problem.

 

This begs the question... WHY? I have yet to see ANY reason to go to the 64 bit version. (Except for VERY large files.)

Gary

 

Microsoft says that users should stay with 32bit Office unless they absolutely need the expanded memory addressing of 64bit.

 

This is the first version of 64 bit and can have many stone not turned(we have seen that in all Microsoft, well other vendors as well) so it is the equivalent of 'Windows 3.0', 'Vista'.

I would wait at least Office 2013 to switch to 64 bit unless needed to. You may not have requirements for addin today, but you don't know about tomorrow(say a new smartphone which has some software to sync your outlook contact which doesn't have 64 bit?)

 

Like I said, I ended up going 32bit and everything works great. My only add-ins are from Adobe Acrobat Pro X however, I don't need that to create PDFs or send as emails since Office 2010 Suites already have built in PDF/XPS support, and the ability to send via email. My 2010 software included the following:

-Word (Which I use a lot)
-Excel (Which I use a lot)
-PowerPoint (Which I use moderately)
-OneNote (Which I'm trying to get myself to use but having trouble finding it useful for the most part. I created a notebook with all my courses as folders that synces with SkyDrive, but I can't get it to sync to my Windows Phone 7, that and I'd rather use an actual notebook since writing equations can be difficult and slow when typing)
-Publisher (which I rarely use but none the less still want for when I need it, however, now that I have Adobe Acrobat Pro X, I may not use it again, at least not for making compiled PDFs)
-Outlook (which I honestly cannot figure out how to use, it is just too complicated for me and Hotmail already does everything I need, it is also the hub for nearly all my email addresses, maybe once I am out of college and into the professional world I'll find more use for it)
-Outlook Business Contact Manager (don't use)
-InfoPath Designer (Don't use and not sure why anyone would use it)
-InfoPath Filler (same as above)
-Lync (I didn't even know I get this with my purchase but don't even know what it is)
-Access (I've used once with an organization I was with and thought it was amazing for personel records on a network, however, only used it with them and never again since)
-SharePoint (which I was hoping to use to sync Office Docs to my Windows Phone but turns out I need a SharePoint Server which I don't have)

I may unistall Office 2010 and reinstall it as 64bit since I don't need the Acrobat add-ins and not install SharePoint, InfoPath, Outlook, etc.

Unless someone can explain to me the compelling features of Outlook and why I should sync my Hotmail account with Outlook. I already have Hotmail setup to recieve emails for my hotmail email, hotmail alias email, university email (Google Apps but use a direct routing system from the university), and community college email (Google Apps but have auto forwarding enabled). It can also send emails from those 4 addresses plus my yahoo email as well (unfortunately cannot recieve from yahoo since POP is not free). I get all of these on my Windows Phone also either to Hotmail or Yahoo Mail.

 

You may want to keep SharePoint. IIRC, it's how you can sync files between WP7 and your computer.

On a separate note, if you use google calendar/contacts there are a few tools you can use to sync Outlook to them and them to your WP7. I'm soooooo looking forward to when Nokia releases Windows phone.

 

Again, I'd suggest against installing Office 64-bit, even if it seems you don't use the Acrobat plugins. Keep in mind that you will not be able to use the "Save as Adobe PDF" File menu item, and will have to use either the Adobe PDF printer or Office's built-in PDF converter (which generally results in larger file sizes and lacks conversion customization options). Microsoft itself recommends against installing the 64-bit version unless you have a specific need for it, so I'd take their advice on that one.

Regarding sharing/syncing of content: I use Windows Live Mesh to sync files between my two computers, and some files with my online SkyDrive (which I believe can also be accessed easily from a WP7 smartphone).

 

I understand totally what you're saying but it seem a bit counterproductive doesn't it? After all, "necessity is the mother of invention;" and what better way to motivate vendors to develop compatible products than to demand their products improvement.

Anyway, it's a weird catch 22 that seem funny especially coming from a community that typically prides themselves on being advocates of the state-of-the-art.

 

In general, I would tend to agree. In this case, however, Microsoft itself has recommended against using the 64-bit version of Office, and for that reason, many developers--including Adobe--have publicly stated that until MS fully backs its 64-bit version for normal consumers, they see little reason in coding compatible addons.

Likewise, no one would advocate using the 64-bit version of IE for similar reasons: MS doesn't encourage its use, and hence, there are few addons for it. We're on the cusp of the 32-bit to 64-bit transition, with 4GB+ of RAM becoming standard even in the budget basic computers, so I would expect native 64-bit programs to have a much warmer reception in the near future.

 

Here's the thing, I couldn't figure out how to setup SharePoint to do that. Also, I use Hotmail Calendar so it easily syncs on my Calendar on the phone. I believe you can sync Google Calendars directly without using Outlook.

 

You can definitely sync gcals w/o Outlook, I just prefer to use Outlook to manage my calendar than google.

 

I use Pro x64 bit, and never had a single issue.

 

SharePoint is a (mediocre, says I) web platform mostly used as a CMS for intranets and such. It doesn't have anything to do with synchronization of calendars or mobile phones.

 

I use 64 bit MS Office and never had any issues. I see someone wrote that 32 bit version opens files faster. Hmmm. I am going to buy SSD soon so I think I will install 64 bit on SSD too. I have never thought what version of any software to install on my computer. Why? Because if 64 bit version exists then I install it and that's it.
No matter I only rarely use MS Word for opening 500MB -1GB book-file.

The only thing I ever heard about bad 64 bit soft was IE but I don't use IE

 

I'm not talking about for Calendars. SharePoint is integrated into Windows Phone 7 for syncing Office Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations. I have SharePoint since it came with my Office software, now I just want to be able to use it for syncing between my laptop and phone. From the looks of it though, when I try to setup SharePoint on my phone, I need a URL. So, I don't think I can do this without forming some business reliance upon Microsoft, obviously I'm not a business, just a person. Unfortunately, this means syncing isn't easy and instead I pretty much need to email to myself to get them on my phone which is inconvienient.

 

No, you don't. You have something called SharePoint Workspace (Mobile).

Yes, and it requires SharePoint on the server side. Ignore it.

 

Ah the classic chicken and the egg problem. I think this thread shows that, if you don't use add on, then it doesn't matter which edition you install.

 

Indeed. Or put it another way, for those who knows they cannot install 64 bit(or must install 64 bit for large Excel), the question would not be asked. For those who ask, the answer is it doesn't matter, just flip a coin

 

Except for the fact that even Microsoft recommends you should NOT install the 64 bit version UNLESS you need the larger file sizes it enables. They are very explicit about that.

Gary

P.S. welcome back surfasb, haven't seen you areound in AGES!

 

That recommendation IMO is targetting 'real users'(mostly corporate) to avoid FAQ of 'my addin no longer works' type of questions.

On a selfish thought, I should encourage people(mostly here) to use 64 bit to test things out

For my actual users(I am responsible for an Outlook addin that is a key component of a SaaS company), I have stated it very clear that don't expect 64 bit Office 2010 support in my module in the next 12 months.

 

Just FYI, as of the Acrobat 10.1 update (released 2 months ago), 64-bit Office is supported. I use the PDFMaker / Save as Adobe PDF in 64-bit MS Word 2010 on a daily basis.