32bit vs 64bit OS

[surgeArrester]

I know this isn't directly related to an electrical engineering question, but some of the softwares that we're dealing here runs on 32bit OS. Why do we choose 64bit OS over 64bit?

My preference is 32bit because during that time i could run etap 7.5. How about you, what is your preferred bit of an OS?

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[gtpol57]

64bit OS Advantages :
1. An 64bit OS can exploit physical memory (RAM) over 3.25 GB
2. An 32bit software, in most cases, can run on an 64bit OS.
The opposite operation is impossible.

[surgeArrester]

I agree. Currently i am using 32bit os and have 6gb ram. I am using -----pae2 to exploit the unusable ram.

That being said, what then is the advantage of a 64bit program over 32bit?

Example.. most .c.r.a.c.k software run on 32bit. Hardlock emulation is easy on 32bit.

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[manuel_cv]

Personal experience: Most of the ----- software I have run flawless on 32 bit. I have another machine with 64 bits and some of the ----- software is more complicated to install.

We usually don't work on really large electrical systems, I mean more than 100 buses, so ram is not an issue. For example ETAP requires 2 GB of ram for 100 Bus Project. 500 Bus requires 4 GB of ram so you could meet the requirements on 32 bits.

So for me, because the software I use is easier to install on 32 bits, I prefer 32 bits for electrical simulation.

[josefreitas]

it true on win 7 32 bis is compatible with XP then is more easly. The win 7 64 bits runs 32 bits with emulator but dont runs XP software. I have a software and i need to install a VDWARE virtualization full compatible (not win64 bits virtualization - don run my soft).

[jeepster]

I use linux not Windows, and I have one package that has less bugs in 32-bit version, so I use it. Some things are quite happy with 4 GiB of RAM (maybe only about 3.25 GiB if you do not have PAE operating system.)
Though increasingly many software vendors release new versions for 64-bit OS, as only a budget home PC would have 4 GiB nowadays.

[jeepster]

I use linux not Windows, and I have one package that has less bugs in 32-bit version, so I use it. Some things are quite happy with 4 GiB of RAM (maybe only about 3.25 GiB if you do not have PAE operating system.)
Though increasingly many software vendors release new versions for 64-bit OS, as only a budget home PC would have 4 GiB nowadays.

[Victor Poole]

Did you mean Why would we choose 64-bit OS over 32-bit OS?

First of all, one main advantage of a 64-bit OS is its ability to address more RAM.

Without using special emulation, you cannot run 64-bit applications on a 32-bit OS, whereas you can run 32-bit applications on a 64-bit OS. In the case of Windows, it uses WOW64, an x86 emulator that allows 32-bit Windows-based applications to run on 64-bit Windows. WOW64 is provided with the operating system and does not require enabling.

32-bit Windows OS can only address 4 GB of RAM and splits that memory, allocating 2 GB of memory to the kernel and up to 2 GB of memory to each application’s private address space. After that, the OS uses a paging file on the hard disk drive.

There is a technology called 4GT that may be used on certain 32-bit systems to allow applications to access up to 3 GB of memory by reducing the amount available to the OS. Also there are some applications than can run PAE X86 on certain Windows 32-bit systems to allow access to more than 4 GB memory.

Depending on the version and other hardware considerations such as the motherboard and CPU, a 64-bit OS can address much more memory:
Windows XP: 128 GB; (no longer supported by Microsoft);
Windows Vista & 7, Home Basic: 8 GB, Home Premium: 16 GB, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate: 192 GB;
Windows 8: 128 GB, Windows 8 Professional, Enterprise: 512 GB.

The OS on some Windows 64-bit servers can access 1 TB or more depending on the CPU.

[Victor Poole]

Did you mean Why would we choose 64-bit OS over 32-bit OS?

First of all, one main advantage of a 64-bit OS is its ability to address more RAM.

Without using special emulation, you cannot run 64-bit applications on a 32-bit OS, whereas you can run 32-bit applications on a 64-bit OS. In the case of Windows, it uses WOW64, an x86 emulator that allows 32-bit Windows-based applications to run on 64-bit Windows. WOW64 is provided with the operating system and does not require enabling.

32-bit Windows OS can only address 4 GB of RAM and splits that memory, allocating 2 GB of memory to the kernel and up to 2 GB of memory to each application’s private address space. After that, the OS uses a paging file on the hard disk drive.

There is a technology called 4GT that may be used on certain 32-bit systems to allow applications to access up to 3 GB of memory by reducing the amount available to the OS. Also there are some applications than can run PAE X86 on certain Windows 32-bit systems to allow access to more than 4 GB memory.

Depending on the version and other hardware considerations such as the motherboard and CPU, a 64-bit OS can address much more memory:
Windows XP: 128 GB; (no longer supported by Microsoft);
Windows Vista & 7, Home Basic: 8 GB, Home Premium: 16 GB, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate: 192 GB;
Windows 8: 128 GB, Windows 8 Professional, Enterprise: 512 GB.

The OS on some Windows 64-bit servers can access 1 TB or more depending on the CPU.