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Upgrade advice


JOSHSKORN

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I'd like to upgrade my mom's computer to Windows 7. It currently only has 2 GB of RAM and really no intention to upgrade it. She basically uses her computer for checking E-mail and runs this music program called Finale.

I've upgraded my computer to Windows 7 from Vista and I love it. It also has 2 GB of RAM, and I used the 64-bit version. I intend on upgrading my desktop's RAM in a few months.

Other than being able to see over 3.3GB of RAM, is there any other advantage for her sake at least, to use the 32-bit version of Windows 7 over the 64-bit version? We've got fiber optic internet, as well, with speeds of about 25mbps down/20mbps up. I don't know if that might factor into the equation, such as if 64-bit is able to render information on a browser at that speed better than 32-bit. Currently, she's on Vista...and it's running slow.

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I'd like to upgrade my mom's computer to Windows 7. It currently only has 2 GB of RAM and really no intention to upgrade it. She basically uses her computer for checking E-mail and runs this music program called Finale.

I've upgraded my computer to Windows 7 from Vista and I love it. It also has 2 GB of RAM, and I used the 64-bit version. I intend on upgrading my desktop's RAM in a few months.

Other than being able to see over 3.3GB of RAM, is there any other advantage for her sake at least, to use the 32-bit version of Windows 7 over the 64-bit version? We've got fiber optic internet, as well, with speeds of about 25mbps down/20mbps up. I don't know if that might factor into the equation, such as if 64-bit is able to render information on a browser at that speed better than 32-bit. Currently, she's on Vista...and it's running slow.

Unless you need to utilize the other 32 registers on your 64bit CPU, or if you ever plan on upgrading from Win7 to Win8 (or another future version), no. x64 is great and I would never tell anyone NOT to run it, but you need to make sure the apps and drivers for the system in question will run without problems on Win7 x64.

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Unless you need to utilize the other 32 registers on your 64bit CPU, or if you ever plan on upgrading from Win7 to Win8 (or another future version), no. x64 is great and I would never tell anyone NOT to run it, but you need to make sure the apps and drivers for the system in question will run without problems on Win7 x64.

Yes I know about making sure your current drivers and so forth are compatible. I know the processor is 64-bit compatible, for sure. Other than being able to increase your RAM to over 3.3GB, is there any other advantage to 64-bit? The app my mother uses mentions on the website that it is 64-bit compatible. I'm wondering if that means that it'll just work in 64-bit environments or work better.

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Well, one of the benefits of a 64bit OS is that you use all 64 registers on the CPU, rather than tying one hand behind it's back by running a 32bit OS (this is the main reason why people report that the 64bit version of an OS feels "snappier" than the 32bit version). And yes, the OS will be able to natively address more than 4GB of RAM, but other than that, the only other obvious benefit would be upgradeability, as Win7 is slated to be the last 32bit client OS from Microsoft. If you wanted to upgrade to Win8 in the future from a Win7 machine, it looks like you'll have to have a 64bit install of Windows 7 to do an actual upgrade of the OS. Other than that, there's not much difference between a 64bit and 32bit OS.

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