Windows 7

Eric_Pisch

HoofeHearted wrote: »

You only get the real advantage of 64bit if you are running 64bit applications.

If not, stick to 32bit with 3Gb RAM limit.

W7 runs vastly better with 8gb+ of ram

W7 64 its self runs better than 32bit even with out 64bit apps

W7 will be the last time you can get a 32bit OS


If you can go with 64bit do, if you have a few pennies to upgrade to 8GB+ of ram do, it makes a big difference.

Marty_J

Eric_Pisch wrote: »

W7 will be the last time you can get a 32bit OS

I find that very hard to believe.

There are millions and millions of PCs out there in homes and businesses that can't run a 64 bit OS. Making an OS that they not only can't run well, but can't run at all, would be Vista times a thousand.

Microsoft can only move as fast as the average consumer, which is not very fast at all.

If you can go with 64bit do, if you have a few pennies to upgrade to 8GB+ of ram do, it makes a big difference.

Most people would be hard-pushed, while tootling around on Facebook and watching Eastenders on BBC iPlayer, to use 4 GB of RAM, never mind 8.

More RAM doesn't make your computer go faster; it just stops if from slowing down.

If someone never uses more than 2 or 3 GB of RAM, adding more, whether it's 8 or 80 GB, won't make the slightest bit of difference.

RobTang

Personally I was hoping they would kill off 32bit OSs with win 7, but aparently MS are not going to produce a 32bit version on their next itteration of windows (assuming its not an Azure based service).

It needs to die really like 4-star petrol, its just confusing consumers having 32/64 bit versions and almost certainly increasing the amount of bugs for new programs etc.

I cant believe W7 runs vastly better with 8gb ram, ive never ever seen my 6gb setup get even close to half way full, although it guess it would give you loads more headroom before windows starts shifting stuff to the pagefile.

Marty_J

RobTang wrote: »

Personally I was hoping they would kill off 32bit OSs with win 7, but aparently MS are not going to produce a 32bit version on their next itteration of windows (assuming its not an Azure based service).

I've heard the rumours, along with the ridiculous one that Windows 8 will be 128 bit-only.

Apple released the first 64 bit home computer way back in 2003. Six years later, most people are still using 32 bit systems. The next version of Windows is slated to be released in 3 years, and while 64 bit computing is growing, I find it difficult to believe that they're going to be in a position to do away with a 32 bit architecture by then. Maybe by time Windows 9 rolls around.

Apple will abandon support for 32 bit processors before Microsoft do, and I don't say this as an Apple fanboy; Apple have a smaller, more nimble user-base, a large proportion of which are already using 64 bit systems (every Mac manufactured in the last 3 years). Just look at how they stopped supporting PowerPC Macs with the last update to OS X.

Oneday77

Eric - What is your obsession with 8GB of RAM or more. That would cost anyone in the region of £90-£180 to add assuming they already have a motherboard and it has 4 Dimm slots already. For that kind of money a SSD hard drive to install the OS onto would make much more sense that 8GB or RAM

64bit - If you consider that XP is close to what 9 years old now. They could kill off 32bit quite easily and still leave Win7 as a legacy OS for the switch over. If they had made Win7 only 64 bit and Vista as the legacy OS that would have been a real bad move. Think about the switch from serial & parallel to USB only support for devices that all happened pretty well. Most processors in the last 5-6 years support 64bit systems, yes it is just the software and preripherals that lag behind. Not all software worked on XP after 98, like wise not everything worked on Vista. Win 7 64 so far has been great and it is so much more flexible than XP64 or Vista64. It would be a wise move to remove 32bit from the next release. Most XP or older machines will be edging on 5years + when the next windows comes out. All Vista based machines should have hardware to cope.

[Deleted User]

HoofeHearted wrote: »

You only get the real advantage of 64bit if you are running 64bit applications.

If not, stick to 32bit with 3Gb RAM limit.

Why stick with something that is becoming obsolete unless you have a dying need too? 64 bit is now becoming mainstream as the situation with driver and software compatibility is all but non existent, not to mention a 64 bit operating system is more efficient.

OP, check your set up with the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Unless there's major incompatibilities, there's no reason not to go for the 64 bit version.

BillScarab

Marty_J wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Pisch
W7 will be the last time you can get a 32bit OS

I find that very hard to believe.

There are millions and millions of PCs out there in homes and businesses that can't run a 64 bit OS. Making an OS that they not only can't run well, but can't run at all, would be Vista times a thousand.

Microsoft can only move as fast as the average consumer, which is not very fast at all.

Quote:
If you can go with 64bit do, if you have a few pennies to upgrade to 8GB+ of ram do, it makes a big difference.
Most people would be hard-pushed, while tootling around on Facebook and watching Eastenders on BBC iPlayer, to use 4 GB of RAM, never mind 8.

More RAM doesn't make your computer go faster; it just stops if from slowing down.

If someone never uses more than 2 or 3 GB of RAM, adding more, whether it's 8 or 80 GB, won't make the slightest bit of difference.

I agree entirely about RAM. 4Gb is fine for most people at the moment. The only time more might be useful is for video editing. Even games which generally push hardware normally run fine on 2Gb.

I do think there it is likely that Windows 8 will be 64 bit only though. By the time it's released there won't be many PC's in use that can't run a 64 Bit OS and those that can't can stick with Windows 7 until they're replaced.

It may annoy a few people but I think the benefits of simplifying the OS will outweigh the disadvantages.

Money_Grabber13579

I actually don't find it hard to believe that Windows 7 will be the last x32 system. The majority of computers being sold now already have processors which can run x64 software. And also, how many people actually upgrade their old computers to the latest version? In reality, it's going to be those who have 1-2 year old computers, where the processors will also more than likely be x64 capable. Anyone with a really old computer that can only run x32 is probably not going to upgrade their system.

So if Windows 8 was x64 only, would it really affect anyone?

Marty_J

While the majority of computers being sold now are 64 bit, there are still millions and millions of them in businesses all over the world that are not, not to mention all the software and devices such as older printers that won't have 64 bit support.

If a business uses its computers for emailing and MS Office (as most do), 64 bit computing has little to offer, and there's not much incentive to replace all the company's computers just to run a 64 bit OS. And while it may sound reasonable to just keep supporting a legacy 32 bit OS, Microsoft don't make any money from legacy operating systems. Cutting off a huge chunk of the revenue stream from one of your largest markets, just because you've arbitrarily decided that it's 64 bit or nothing, isn't a very good idea.

Microsoft already got burned with Vista, and I can't see them being in a rush to get burned again; businesses had absolutely zero interest in transparent windows and flashy visual effects, and they had absolutely no interest in upgrading all their machines to obtain them.

So going 64 bit will cut Microsoft off from one of its core markets. Businesses are reluctant to upgrade under the best of circumstances, but if its 64 bit only, many of them won't even be considering using Windows 8 until it's time to upgrade all their hardware, whether that's in 4 or 5 years time (or longer).

In those circumstances, Microsoft can kiss a large chunk of their profits goodbye.

JasX

HoofeHearted wrote: »

You only get the real advantage of 64bit if you are running 64bit applications.

If not, stick to 32bit with 3Gb RAM limit.

the above is absolute rubbish, as per most other posts in this thread you should 100% go for 64-bit (so long as you have 2GB RAM or more...)