64-bit Operating Systems

So if you have been reading my posts you will have noticed that I have mentioned 32-bit and 64-bit programs and operating systems. So I am going to explain what they are. The 32-bit or 64-bit refers to how the CPU handles RAM (Random Access memory). 32-bit operating systems can use almost up to 4 GB’s of RAM efficiently, anything above that can be handled much better by a 64-bit operating system. In fact 32-bit operating systems can only read around 4 GB’s so if you have a computer with more than 4 GB’s, chances are you have a 64-bit operating system. If not you are just wasting valuable speed and power.

Not too long ago 64-bit operating systems were not well supported, at least by Microsoft. I remember when my computer was running XP 64-bit edition, it was good but slightly less stable than the 32-bit XP edition. However somewhere between XP and 7 computers started selling with 4 GB’s of RAM and over, so 64-bit operating systems started taking off. Now 64-bit Operating Systems are quite common.

The way 64-bit operating systems work is incredibly different from their 32-bit counterpart. Therefore you normally would not be able to run 32-bit versions of any software on a 64-bit OS, fortunately there are ways to run a 32-bit program on 64-bit operating systems. The Windows Operating System has a subsystem called WOW64 (Windows 32-bit On Windows 64-bit) which emulates a windows 32-bit operating system. With a Linux system you will either need to download 32-bit libraries for your programs, or find another way. But just like other operating systems, you don’t need to look to far to find 64-bit programs.

There are tons of programs out there that come in 64-bit versions. But there are a few that you should probably have if you are running a 64-bit OS. Such as a Registry Cleaner which is an important tool for any system, because it keeps the registry running nice and smoothly. You should never attempt to run a 32-bit Registry cleaner for a 64-bit operating system. If it runs it could cause damage to the registry itself, which is a very important part of the operating system. Another is anti-virus software, or internet security suite, whatever you want to call it. Any computer security suite should be a 64-bit version so that it can properly scan your system and detect problems. You will also want to get a 64-bit disk defragmenter if you don’t like using the built in disk defragmenter.

If you still want to know more about 64-bit operating systems, check out this site, its called start64 and they always have the latest on anything 64-bit. They know about both windows and linux 64-bit stuff, and they report on the latest 64-bit programs. Once again I have no affiliation to them. Check them out.