32bit v 64bit

[robert1305]

Having just installed Win 7 32bit, I now find that my PC is more than capable of running 64bit.

Having customised the O/S to how I want it, would it be worth all the hassle to do another re-install.

Can anyone explain the advatages of 64bit, in laymans terms, cos not very techy minded.

 

[GEKKACAMEO]

Speaking in laymans (cause I am one) if you have relatively new hardware then go ahead and reinstall. A 64-bit cpu is able to use more information at a given time than a 32-bit cpu. As you may know you need a 64-bit cpu to run a 64-bit OS.

64-bit processing can use all of this at the same time:

123456781234567812345678123456781234567812345678123456781234567

32-bit processing can only use this:

12345678123456781234567812345678

I'll leave the rest of the real explanation of this to someone that can give better detail. I do know that it's faster but if you don't have newer hardware (especially printer) 64-bit drivers may not be available.

 

[Cabbs]

It's probably not such a big deal right now, but everything is gonna move towards 64-bit. If it were me I'd just do it now to get it out of the way.

One advantage of 64-bit operating systems is that you can use more than 4GB of RAM when the time comes.