Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:56:44 -0400, Just Visiting thusly wrote: > I won't deny that for certain people 32-bit systems are still perfectly > useful. Just my clients do not share this view for a series of good > reasons. Even their older systems tend to be 64-bit nowadays. Migration > towards 64-bit OSes is under way. There is still 32-bit compatibility if > needed. At the same time certain programs will perform drastically > better when compiled to 64-bit. Replacement thus can be postponed which > is usually the best way to keep CFOs happy.
64-bit programs often also require larger CPU caches to work efficiently, more disk space (larger binaries), and finally larger memory consumption. 32-bit x86 + PAE still works until you have more than 64 GB of RAM or processes larger than 2 or 3 GB. So, in desktop use 32-bit feels like the best way to go unless 64-bit algorithms are provably more efficient in the chosen task.
