Windows 7 64 bit

[KC4RAN]

Originally Posted by KF7AYS

Using a 32bit OS on a 64 bit machine is like driving a 1968 Camaro with four plugs removed. Unsatisfying at best.

When your apps don't take advantage of 64-bit, then the underlying OS makes very little difference. If you have 4GB of RAM and don't run (insert tiny list of desktop applications here) then 32-bit is better, not having to deal with the underlying headaches of 64-bit drivers, apps that don't like 64-bit (Cisco VPN client), etc.

[AC0H]

I just built a new machine 4 months ago.
Every single piece of hardware on the system, none of them exotic or bleeding edge by any stretch of the imagination, has a Win 7 64 bit driver available.

Even my HP Officejet 8000 Pro printer has a basic driver built into Win7 64 bit.

[KD0DKI]

Originally Posted by KD8JFO

64 bit? never heard of it before, im still using 16 bit!!

And if you did have a machine with a 64bit OS it would not run 16bit software at all.
This feature is by design not a bug.

[KJ6CEA]

64-bit is backwords compatable with 32-bit processes, the dont play nicely though

[VA3CSS]

Originally Posted by KF7AYS

Using a 32bit OS on a 64 bit machine is like driving a 1968 Camaro with four plugs removed. Unsatisfying at best.

Precisely. If you're buying a new computer and plan to go with XP, then you're simply limiting yourself. Same goes with any 32-bit version of Vista or Seven.

Originally Posted by KJ6CEA

64-bit is backwords compatable with 32-bit processes, the dont play nicely though

64-bit Windows run what is called "WOW" (Windows on Windows). It's how the 64-bit kernel runs 32-bit apps. 99.99999% of all 32-bit apps run on 64-bit Windows.

If you have a Windows app that won't run on 64-bit Vista or Seven, then you have a 16-bit app. Time to upgrade.




And bear in mind, everyone, sticking to 32-bit is limiting in other ways. 2-Terrabyte drives are already shipping. If you expect to be able to use one with XP, you'll be running into the same wall Windows 98 did with 32Mb drives. XP can't address a 2Tb drive as one drive. Neither will any other 32-bit Windows OS - or for that matter, 32-bit Linux.

Same goes for RAM. 32-bit sees about 3.5Gb RAM maximum. We hams often run multiple windows at the same time. A browser; logger; SSTV and email all at once, for example. (Especially when you have dual screens like me.) The more RAM you have, the faster they all run simultaneously.

Go 64-bit, and you can go beyond the 3.5Gb limit.

[KD0DKI]

Originally Posted by KA5ROW

I Just installed Windows 7 on a separate hard drive to keep it as pure as I can with only 64 bit software. So I am assuming any software made for "Vista, 64 bit" should be compatible with Windows 7 as long as I use the 64 bit Ver. Yes or No.

I know IE 8 32 bit is on the Win 7 64 edition but the plan is to only install 64 bit software on that drive.

Windows XP, Vista, and 7 64bit
All use specific places within the file system and registry to store the information to run the 32bit and 64 bit applications. You will be hard pressed to find 64bit software that is inexpensive. Having a different drive does isolate the system but you will find getting information to and from the old install and the new install a pain in the backside.

Talking about browsers I love 64bit browsers, all the crap that is not able to run in a 64bit browser FAILS to run. I know this will be for a limited time but it is nice for now

[KB3PXR]

The only real reasons to keep 32-bit Windows around would be for one of two reasons. One is with drivers as 64-bit Windows does not like drivers for the 32-bit systems. The other is with the compatibility layer, in 64-bit Windows the 16-bit compatibility layer is replaced with the 32-bit compatibility layer. That means that I can't run any DOS or Win 3.11 or earlier programs (except Windows NT 3.5 or earlier I think) as they use 16-bit code (a win32 compatibility system was added so those programs may still work), I also can't use my Scanner as it was running on borrowed time driver wise anyway. My scanner only has a Win98 (SE unless the USB drivers were installed) and Windows 2000 drivers for it. My IR/Bluetooth dongle is similar, the bluetooth works fine with the Standard Windows driver (although it can't find drivers for some devices, they still work fine), the IR only has the XP (32-bit) and earlier drivers.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!: If you use a Palm OS device, you cannot connect it by USB to a 64-bit Windows Machine as there is no driver, some programs (on the Palm) use USB differently (like Pocket Tunes) so don't toss the cable. With Palm OS devices you must sync with Serial, IR, or Bluetooth. Kinda strange to do Bluetooth after a hard reset.