With all the hype around 64bit hardware and how it is going to change the world and make you 100% more efficient in everything you do, I get asked this question a lot: Why would I even consider a 32bit operating system? And rightly so, if you have hardware capable of supporting a 64bit operating system, why would you want to be running an archaic 32bit platform?

Here is the simple answer:

In a day-to-day business environment you do not need, nor do you want to deal with the hassle of a 64bit operating system.
Now before you start thinking how I must be out of my mind and that everyone should be running on 64bits of computing pleasure, allow me to elaborate. One of the biggest benefits of a 64bit architecture, and probably one of the only benefits most of us will experience, is the ability for the operating system to utilize more memory (RAM). For example, the most memory that Windows can efficiently use running on 32bit hardware is about 4 GB, meaning that even if a system has more memory the operating system simply won’t be able to use it. On the other hand 64bit based hardware has the effective capacity to utilize over 17 billion gigabytes of RAM (which is far more than anyone would ever need…for now at least).

This brings me to my first point, before telling yourself that you need a 64bit operating system, first ask yourself how much RAM do you actually have on your system, for the most of us who just do basic word processing and Internet surfing there is a good chance we do not have more than 4 GB of memory, nor would we need any more than 4 GB.

Just in case you are still feeling inclined to require a 64bit operating system (and I will get to those reasons in a bit) let me tell you the trouble I have had getting certain legacy software to function correctly. We all hate having to upgrade to a new operating system and then having some of our applications cease to function. There is usually hope though in fiddling with the various application compatibility features that allow our long loved applications to once again regain life. What if that wasn’t the case? What if no matter what compatibility features were enabled the software just would not work? Albeit Microsoft has done excellent work with their WOW64 (Windows on Windows) technology that allows most 32bit applications to run flawlessly, sometimes an old application just won’t run. The solution to this problem is quite simple; re-install a 32bit operating system, which is most likely what should’ve been installed in the first place.

So now you must be thinking “Why would they even have the option of 64bit?” Well there are reasons when you would want to make the jump, for example if you do heavy CAD (Computer Aided Design) or graphic /video work that would require more than 4 GB of RAM to run effectively then I would recommend installing a 64bit platform. Also we mustn’t forget the backend of things, the server that run’s most of our offices. By today’s standards 4 GB of memory is the bare minimum you would want on a server so a 64bit platform is required to ensure future expandability.

One day we will encounter this bare minimum requirement on our personal workstations and laptops, but for now just stick to 32bit to make everyone’s life a little easier…