Systems & Networks | Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
64bit Operating Systems
64bit architecture and how it affects you
A 64bit integer is a number which can take one of more than 2^64 (18446744073709551616) unique values, and this article explains the difference between 32bit and 64bit operating systems.
How does that affect me?
Most operating systems use a 32bit architecture. This means that all the registers, address buses and data buses are able to manipulate 32 bit words, so the maximum amount of RAM addressable by a 32bit processor or operating system is 2^32 or 4GB.
The operating system itself reserves some parts of the RAM for internal operations, this means that 32bit operating systems cannot actually use much more than 3GB of RAM. The main advantage of a 64bit processor and operating system is the support for up to 18.2 Million GB of RAM.
When will 64bit processors and operating systems be available?
64bit architecture has been on horizon for a while. There have been 64bit versions of Windows XP available since 2002 and 64bit processors have been available in personal computers since 2003.
The take up has been slow since we had not yet reached the limits of 32bit operating systems.
Development of drivers was not a priority for hardware manufacturers and so anyone wanting to move over to a 64bit operating system needed to choose their hardware carefully.
Our test system wouldn’t support a common soundcard or webcam, we were unable to find any incompatible 32bit programs, but had problems with some 16bit installers.
When should I upgrade?
Most processors being produced at the moment are 64bit, and 64bit operating systems are starting to become a common choice on new machines.
There is no upgrade path from a 32bit to a 64bit operating system. A 64bit operating system would be a wise choice for your next computer.
It will give you a future proofed system and allow for future upgrades to your current hardware.
For more information on both 32bit and 64bit operating environments, contact Fish.Net’s Systems and Networks team.
Tags: 64bit, RAM, upgrade, windows