Windows 7: 32-bit and 64-bit. What's the difference?

What is 32-bit and 64-bit and what is the difference?

To be overly simplistic the bit count for an operating system is the amount of memory it can keep track of at once. A 64bit OS can keep track of much more data at once, theoretically up to 16 exabytes (16.8million terabytes) of memory, while a 32Bit OS can only keep track of 4GB at maximum. The more memory you can use the more applications you can run simultaneously and put these multi-core processors to their full potential.

Which should I be upgrading to?

This depends on a few factors. Ask youself the following questions: Is your system running a 64bit processor? Can your system run 4GB or more of memory? Do you run a lot of applications at once? If the answer is yes to some or all of these, a 64-bit operating system.

Not sure yet? Have a look at the Windows upgrade advisor tool. To run Windows 7 effectively, you will need at least 2GB of RAM for the 32-bit edition and at least 4GB for the 64-bit edition. The 32Bit edition still has the software limitation of only utilizing between 3GB to 3.5GB of memory. The 64Bit edition can handle up to 16GB for Home Premium and 192GB of memory for Windows 7 Professional, The more memory your system can use the more applications you can run at the same time with no slow down. We recommend the 64bit OS for anyone who is running multiple applications and can install 4GB of memory or more.

The only drawback to a 64bit operating system is that if your device does not have a 64bit driver then it will not work. This applies to printers, MP3 players, PDAs and any device that you plug into the computer. To check on the availability of a driver go to the manufactures website and check under the support or downloads section. This will be important for some legacy devices that are no longer being supported and will not have the software required.