nsane.forums Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 The transition to 64-bit computing has accelerated with the release of Windows 7. Figures published by Microsoft today claim that nearly half of Windows 7 installations—46 percent—are using 64-bit versions of the operating system. This represents a huge upswing in 64-bit adoption; Windows Vista, in comparison, had only 11 percent of its users running the 64-bit version.The benefits of 64-bit Windows vary; for some users they will be substantial, for others, nonexistent. The 64-bit versions of the operating system have reliable access to larger amounts of physical memory than their 32-bit counterparts. 64-bit software similarly has easy access to more system resources. These factors can provide a substantial performance boost to heavy workloads like databases, but for other workloads—including common desktop tasks such as word processing or Web browsing—there is little advantage to be had.64-bit Windows software is potentially more secure than 32-bit software. 64-bit Windows can make systems such as ASLR stronger, as known ASLR-defeating techniques depend on the relatively small amount of memory that 32-bit programs have available.It's these security benefits which prompted Intel's migration to 64-bit Windows 7; the chipmaker, which famously skipped Windows Vista, has expressed no concerns over migration to Redmond's latest platform.64-bit variants of the x86 processors that power Windows machines have been around since 2003, but the popularity of 64-bit software has lagged behind the processor availability. This started to change with Windows Vista. Driver certification for that OS required submission of 64-bit drivers in addition to the far more common 32-bit drivers, meaning that hardware manufacturers stopped treating the 64-bit version as a second-class citizen. Similarly, software certification requires vendors to test and support their software on 64-bit Windows.Though it seems likely that 64-bit sales will overtake 32-bit at some point during the course of Windows 7's life, 32-bit software isn't going away anytime soon. A lot of software is still 32-bit, with little to gain from a conversion.One particular sticking point is Web browsers and their plugins; though the security benefits of 64-bit software are particularly desirable in a Web browser, important plugins like Flash have no 64-bit version. And although Internet Explorer has had a 64-bit version for many years, other Windows browsers have not yet followed suit. This could change soon, as Firefox 4 may include a 64-bit Windows version.As slow as it is, the 64-bit migration is happening faster than the switch from 16- to 32-bit software. Intel's first 32-bit processor was released in 1985; it wasn't until Windows 95, a decade later, that there was any mainstream 32-bit operating system, and even that was a hybrid between 16- and 32-bit code. Not until Windows XP's release in 2001 did PC users move wholesale to a pure 32-bit platform. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Owl Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Even my new 11.6-inch (30-cm) netbook came with Windows 7 x64 even though it only had 2 GB of RAM. But I added another 2 GB, so now 4 GB is very roomy for Windows 7 64-bit.I did notice that with 2 GB of RAM, Windows 7 64-bit took about 700 MB after booting up and settling down (with no applications running). But with 4 GB of RAM, Windows 7 64-bit takes about 1.05 GB to 1.1 GB under the same circumstances. So Windows 7 64-bit keeps about another 400 MB (or 57%) of itself in memory with the extra 2 GB of RAM. This makes Windows 7 64-bit react a bit faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted July 9, 2010 Administrator Share Posted July 9, 2010 Windows is designed in such a way that if there's RAM available, it will utilize it. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bashar Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 i'm using 64-bit since vista i think it's More secure and it supports the 32 application didn't they say windows 8 will be 128-bit ?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonon Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 i'm using 64-bit since vista i think it's More secure and it supports the 32 application didn't they say windows 8 will be 128-bit ?!I don't see the necessity of a 128-bit system. Frankly, servers and such just manage fine with 64 bits and an OS used in a home environment won't need it in years. Furthermore, Microsoft has not even used the full potential of 64 bits, so I don't know why they should make another leap.BTW: this article will give some info about this matter.BTW2: Another article that says just enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hottwire Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 Windows is designed in such a way that if there's RAM available, it will utilize it. ;) Very true, but I'm glad that this transition is taking place it will push the industry to actually utilize all 64 bit processing and all other aspects that aren't fully utilized yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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