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64 Vs 32 bit Windows

 
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I am still using 32 bit Windows XP. Never considered upgrading it!

But I really want to know if 64 bit Windows (any version) is offering any real benefit? How many people here are using 64 Windows? Why did you choose 64 bit?
 
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I'm running 64-bit Win 7 Pro on my desktop because it has 8GB of RAM. My laptop has only 4GB of RAM but I run 64-bit there also to access all of the RAM.
 
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My PC came with 7- 64 . I dont like it much because many programs are available for 32-bit and not 64-bit. But that seems to be changing - i saw 64 bit versions of eclipse, tomcat, etc.

PS : The windows 7 has this wierd UAC , it puts irritating restrictions on installation and execution of software but not on malware, one of which had bypassed UAC and attacked silently. IMHO, you should not upgrade if all you do is "basic work".

 
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You can disable UAC messages. There should also be no problem running 32 bit programs on a 64 bit OS.
 
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I am also using win7 64bit, cause it has 8GB RAM
 
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More memory would be my main reason for shifting to 64 bit Windows. I am using Windows Vista on my main machine right now, but my wife's new PC is running 64 bit Windows 7, which looks pretty good to me so far. No problems with UAC (unlike Vista), and her 32-bit programs seem to work fine.
 
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If you want to use more than 3.2 GB of RAM (varies a bit) then you have to use a 64 bit operating system. Modern high performance systems use 6GB or 8GB or more. My most recent laptop has 8GB, as does my 18 month old desktop. You don't have any choice, 32 bits can only address 4GB of anything. (There are weird hacks like PAE, but they are not general solutions).

If you have an old PC, you may not even be able to install more than 4GB, so for that, 64 bit code has no advantages. It is likely that using 64 bit code takes a little bit more RAM for all use, a 32 bit address can become a 64 bit address, but this is usually not a big deal. The big deal is using lots and lots of memory.

All of this is true for Windows and Linux. Apple's Mac OS-X has been all 64 bit for years.
 
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