Windows 7 Questions

[Toyuko]

So i am upgrading from Windows 7600 to RTM, i got three questions.

32 or 64 bit?
How can i get a list of my installed programs?
I have a wireless card installed, will it automaticy detect it?

[LarkStarr]

1) up to you. want to use more then 3ish gigs of ram? use 64 bit. recommended anyways. it's the future.
2) add/remove programs + screenshot(s)?
3) maybe, maybe not. more likely then not though, win7 has a good driver database. google your wireless brand and find out? best thing to do is have the drivers on a usb key or unformatted partition on your hard drive.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by LarkStarr

1) up to you. want to use more then 3ish gigs of ram? use 64 bit. recommended anyways. it's the future.
2) add/remove programs + screenshot(s)?
3) maybe, maybe not. more likely then not though, win7 has a good driver database. google your wireless brand and find out? best thing to do is have the drivers on a usb key or unformatted partition on your hard drive.

1] 64bit the future? They have been saying that for years and its still not there. 64bit has no real place yet in most homes and software is STILL for the most part written in 32bit code which won't take advantage of more than 4gb of memory.

2] Many programs can do this or as stated above.. screen shot your list.

3] Some wireless cards will work but some may not. Check the manufacturer site and see if they have drivers.

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by enaberif

1] 64bit the future? They have been saying that for years and its still not there. 64bit has no real place yet in most homes and software is STILL for the most part written in 32bit code which won't take advantage of more than 4gb of memory.

There are already a decent number of 64-bit applications. Office 2010 will have a 64-bit version as well (the beta is already publicly available). Although you won't see a benefit from 64-bit in everything, there's certainly no disadvantage to using it even with 32-bit programs, so you may as well use it at this point to take advantage of whatever applications are 64-bit.

[MarkOne]

the only reason I use 64 bits, is for the memory

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by Zero82z

There are already a decent number of 64-bit applications. Office 2010 will have a 64-bit version as well (the beta is already publicly available). Although you won't see a benefit from 64-bit in everything, there's certainly no disadvantage to using it even with 32-bit programs, so you may as well use it at this point to take advantage of whatever applications are 64-bit.

And its this mentality that stops me from posting around here.

[Perineum]

4 gigs of ram or less I use 32 bit Windows.

6 gigs or more I'll use a 64 bit OS....

From what I understand, if you're using all 32bit software then you're probably using more ram using a 64bit OS with 4 gigs of ram than you would using a 32bit OS with 4 gigs of ram due to the overhead of WOW64.

In order to avoid all this I got 8gigs of ram and used 64bit OS. At the time 4 extra gigs of ram was $55 so I could not justify not getting it.... I tend to keep my computers so this machine may become any number of things in the future.

[YukonTrooper]

I recently moved to Windows 7 64-bit from XP 32-bit a few weeks ago. Functionality wise, Windows 7 adds some nice little things, like Gadgets, a better taskbar, better sound control (I love having volume levels for every application separate from the main audio) and some other user-friendly controls. However, I wouldn't call the switch dramatic, and I've had to lower my OC as well for system stability. I'm getting BSOD's once in awhile, but I'm still working out if it's the memory, the SSD, or some application. Firefox also likes to crash a lot in Windows 7. Hopefully Mozilla or Microsoft cures that up soon.

32-bit vs 64-bit? Considering that for enthusiasts one of the main draws of a 64-bit OS is memory overhead, you may as well go for 64-bit. If I was buying a laptop with Windows 7, I'd get the 32-bit version, as I'd only have 3GB/4GB max in the laptop anyways.

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by Perineum

From what I understand, if you're using all 32bit software then you're probably using more ram using a 64bit OS with 4 gigs of ram than you would using a 32bit OS with 4 gigs of ram due to the overhead of WOW64.

WOW64 effectively has no overhead. It's just a lightweight translation layer and a switch that tells the CPU to run in 32-bit mode.

[LarkStarr]

Originally Posted by enaberif

And its this mentality that stops me from posting around here.

elaborate?




I don't know what you people are all on about.. if you have many 32 bit applications (even just a game, with background aplications) running you still might use more then ~3 gigs of ram, so why not? I mean there's no real disadvantage to using 64 bit anymore. it's well supported and it has advantages in certain applications. there's going to be no transition if everyone is still on the fence about it. (or until microsoft stops supporting 32 bit. windows 8? who knows!)

and WOW64 indeed as far as I know has very little overhead anyways.