Windows 8.1 32 bit vs. 64 bit

[rickb]

I'm about to upgrade to Windows 8.1 but don't know whether I should use 32 bit or 64 bit version. Can anyone please advise whiich way to go? Thanks.

[KittenKong]

If you have 4GB of RAM or more you should use the 64bit version as the 32bit version cannot make full use of that much RAM.

Apart from that 64bit has become the standard for new builds so you may as well go for it, but there is precious little difference for the end user.

Not sure what you mean about "upgrade" as if you are installing 8.1 as an update to 8.0 you wont get the choice of 64- or 32-bit anyway as it is dictated by the version you are currently using.

[rickb]

Thanks KittenKong for your response. I do have 4 GB of RAM. So I'll go for the 64-bit version,. I currently am using Windows 7. So maybe my use of the term update was incorrect. I'm going to buy Windows 8.1 and have it installed.

[Pib]

Whether you can use 32 or 64 bit Windows is going to depend on your CPU/motherboard. If the computer is only a couple years old it's probably 64 bit hardware...if it's only around 5 years old it could very well be 32 bit hardware. Check your CPU info in Windows to see if your computer is a 32 or 64 bit machine.

Sent from my Samsung S4

[KittenKong]

Thanks KittenKong for your response. I do have 4 GB of RAM. So I'll go for the 64-bit version,. I currently am using Windows 7. So maybe my use of the term update was incorrect. I'm going to buy Windows 8.1 and have it installed.

What do you think you will gain from installing 8.x? I dont think it provides anything in particular that is worthwhile for most people.

From your initial post I got the impression that you are upgrading your PC as well as your operating system, but maybe that isn't the case?

[DogNo1]

I think that 64 bit capable motherboards have been around for much longer than five years. Heck, NT 3.0 was 64 bit back in the days of Win 95 and Win Millennium. I'm not sure if Vista was built on the NT kernal but Win 7 sure is. For the OP, if he has a 64 bit capable MB (would help to know the make and model) it would be good to have 4 GB of ram and a 64 bit OS since accessing that extra memory does speed up the machine and cut down on the intensive reading and writing to the Windows cache file on the hard disk. If possible, the OP should install a fresh version of the OS on an SSD. Using an SSD speeds up a system dramatically.

[NeverSure]

64 bit all the way. There are some legacy programs that won't run on it, but most will. I'm running 32 bit Office 2010 on 64 bit Win 8.1.

Think of 64 bits as bandwidth in processing capability. Also, it hasn't been that long ago that people just didn't have 4 gigs of ram.

As for history, some servers, mainframes and powerful desktops had 64 bit in the 90's and a little before and yes NT was 64 bit but it wasn't a desktop app.

IBM mainframes didn't get 64 bit until 2000.

The first mainstream 64 bit PC's hit the market in 2003 with the Apple G5 and AMD with the K8 X86 64.

Time flies, and computer upgrades fly even faster.

Edited May 4, 2014 by NeverSure

[WhizBang]

Thanks KittenKong for your response. I do have 4 GB of RAM. So I'll go for the 64-bit version,. I currently am using Windows 7. So maybe my use of the term update was incorrect. I'm going to buy Windows 8.1 and have it installed.

If you currently have windows 7 installed, and it is stable, and you are happy with it, then I would just stay with 7.

'Upgrading" to windows 8.1 will just bring on a whole new set of problems and then there is the learning curve. I am not sure 8.1 really brings anything new to the table, it definately has, in my opinion, one of the worst GUIs M$ has put out in a long time. A real step backwards from 7 (not that I loved 7).

[DavoTheGun]

MOST OF THE posters are quite right, stick with 7, Win 8 was really designed for Tablets, even though you can make it look like 7.

[harrry]

Wiindows 64 bit takes twice the disk space of the 32bit. This can count if you put it on an SSD.

[NamKAheng]

Make sure that the 64 bits drivers are available for your hardware.

[Carmine6]

I was on Win 7 Ultimate. Very nice OS, but I went to Win 8, now 8.1, and I would not go back. Much faster to boot up and more stable. It also does cloud type stuff much better such as making Skydrive, now Onedrive, actually useful. I boot straight to desktop, which is just a check box in settings.

I don't like the Win 8 "start" menu for doing many things, but there are many programs to bring the old start menu back. The weird thing is though I have the Classic Shell program to put the regular start menu back, I find myself going to Metro to open programs rather than the start menu. The old start menu is much better for things like getting to the printers and settings, but I've gotten used to launching programs from Metro since it is easier to do a mouse over to the right side or lower left corner, pull the metro interface up and click an icon, than navigating the small text in the start menu. Partly that's because my monitor seems to be getting farther away the older I get.

When I bought a Win 8 tablet, all I had to do was login with the same account as on my laptop and it created a home network between the computers. Browser bookmarks synced without me having to do anything, and I installed programs straight from my laptops drive over the network rather than having to even copy install programs over. Threw data files onto Skydrive and synced over to the tablet and I just moved them to my documents folder, or just left some on Skydrive.

Memory management seems much better on Win 8. I used to get memory warnings once in a while and I never get them anymore. I also have hardly any instances where I open a huge spreadsheet/database and have Excel freeze for so long I have to shut it down. Used to have that happen all the time on Win 7.

[2008bangkok]

I was on Win 7 Ultimate. Very nice OS, but I went to Win 8, now 8.1, and I would not go back. Much faster to boot up and more stable. 7.

It maybe faster to boot up but when it's booted you still have to wait before you can use anything as it has to load and start all the services etc

[Chicog]

I was on Win 7 Ultimate. Very nice OS, but I went to Win 8, now 8.1, and I would not go back. Much faster to boot up and more stable. 7.

It maybe faster to boot up but when it's booted you still have to wait before you can use anything as it has to load and start all the services etc

Nonsense, it's by far the fastest and most stable version of Windows yet, and anyone who says otherwise is simple talking out of their hat without ever having used it.

[JSixpack]

I've gotten used to launching programs from Metro since it is easier to do a mouse over to the right side or lower left corner, pull the metro interface up and click an icon, than navigating the small text in the start menu.

For that, you can just make yourself a toolbar or use a dock such as Objectdock. Objectdock Plus has tabs as well, very convenient.

[2008bangkok]

I was on Win 7 Ultimate. Very nice OS, but I went to Win 8, now 8.1, and I would not go back. Much faster to boot up and more stable. 7.

It maybe faster to boot up but when it's booted you still have to wait before you can use anything as it has to load and start all the services etc

Nonsense, it's by far the fastest and most stable version of Windows yet, and anyone who says otherwise is simple talking out of their hat without ever having used it.

Then your obviously using a different version of 8.1 update 1 than I am, briar the one I use starts up fast but them u have to wait 5 mins for all the services to load before you can start web browsing.

It's a bold statement to say it's the most stable version yet, I'm sure co and win 7 is a lot more stable in fact I know it is

[Chicog]

I was on Win 7 Ultimate. Very nice OS, but I went to Win 8, now 8.1, and I would not go back. Much faster to boot up and more stable. 7.

It maybe faster to boot up but when it's booted you still have to wait before you can use anything as it has to load and start all the services etc

Nonsense, it's by far the fastest and most stable version of Windows yet, and anyone who says otherwise is simple talking out of their hat without ever having used it.

Then your obviously using a different version of 8.1 update 1 than I am, briar the one I use starts up fast but them u have to wait 5 mins for all the services to load before you can start web browsing.

It's a bold statement to say it's the most stable version yet, I'm sure co and win 7 is a lot more stable in fact I know it is

Well there's something wrong with what you're running because I don't have to wait five minutes to browse even if I'm starting from a comple Power Off (rather than hibernate, etc.).

As for stable I've had Win 8 running (all updated to 8.1 now) on four PCs since it was first available to EA customers and I've had one Blue Screen and that was because a disk failed. Another one is running 2012 Server flawlessly.

All of my PCs are on most of the time, they are only turned off when I'm away for more than a day, otherwise just set to sleep.

Win 7 is not far behind, and streets ahead of XP, but as you would expect when they had lots of time to improve things, 8 is better.

There is plenty of supporting info I've posted on various threads, you can find it in this forum or simply google it yourself.

[Pib]

Yeap, Win 8.1 is faster than Win 7, especially in booting up. I have a Win 8.1 on my Lenovo i7 CPU powered laptop (non touch screen) and it boots to the Start screen in 16 to 21 seconds...and it only has a standard 1TB 5400RPM spinning platter hard drive (but I have a 512MB SSD in bound as we speak which will probably make the boot time less than 10 seconds). I can start using the computer at that point but it needs about another 5 to 10 seconds to be "fully" responsive (quick in response) to some commands/programs since it still loading some start-up stuff in the background. Basically as early at 16 seconds I can be using my computer but I usually wait to around the 30 seconds point to allow it to get fully up to speed. Additionally, Win 8.1 has been super stable...equal to for sure and probably better than Win 7. I have Win 7 running on my other/second laptop. After after the Win 8.1 "Update 1" was released about a month ago, Win 8.1 is even better/easier to use in my opinion. I can go back and forth between the Win 8.1 Start Screen Metro type tiles and Win 7 type Desktop in one click.

While my first few weeks with Win 8.1 was a learning curve, I have come to like it a lot...I definitely like it more than Win 7 now. If buying a new computer with no OS installed, Win 8.1 would be what I would install on it....Win 7 wouldn't even be a consideration.

[Pib]

Then your obviously using a different version of 8.1 update 1 than I am, briar the one I use starts up fast but them u have to wait 5 mins for all the services to load before you can start web browsing.

It's a bold statement to say it's the most stable version yet, I'm sure co and win 7 is a lot more stable in fact I know it is

You must have one or more programs in your startup sequence that is really bogging the computer down like maybe they are trying to call home to download updates like antivirus programs usually do to grab the latest signature updates. And these updates/downloads are eating a lot of your CPU time and hard disk time...and your internet bandwidth when trying to startup your browser. And it just takes about 5 minutes for all the calling home/updates to complete. I use Win 7 and Win 8.1 (been running Win 8.1 since Dec 13)...and I've running the Win 8.1 "Update 1" for about a month now...absolutely no problems. Win 7 is definitely stable and from my experience with Win 8.1 it is as every bit as stable as Win 7 and probably more stable.

If I was going out to buy a Win OS tomorrow, Win 7 would not be on my buy list; only Win 8.1. Now if you had asked me that back in Dec 13 when I first installed Win 8.1 may have said I'm reverting to Win 7. But after I got through a couple weeks learning curve I definitely like Win 8.1 better than Win 7.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Pib

[Carmine6]

Then your obviously using a different version of 8.1 update 1 than I am, briar the one I use starts up fast but them u have to wait 5 mins for all the services to load before you can start web browsing.

It's a bold statement to say it's the most stable version yet, I'm sure co and win 7 is a lot more stable in fact I know it is

There were complaints from some users about increased start up time after the 8.1 update came out. Not sure how people resolved them as I've never had problems, like others here. Maybe check around for how people dealt with it from those old posts. If you have stability problems as well, it seems like something went wrong on the install or maybe there's a hardware issue.

My laptop will get to desktop in maybe 30 seconds. And I mean button press to desktop, even with me entering a password in between. My tablet, which has an SSD will get to desktop in under 25 seconds, even with me having to enter a pin, and having to get from Metro to the desktop. From sleep, it'll do it in 3 seconds, with pin entry included.

[harrry]

I do not know why they messed up Windows 8.1 by readding the task bar to the bottom of the screen. I liked the clean look that 8 had and if I wanted a program I only had to hit the windows key and type a few letters of its name.

[Pib]

...and if I wanted a program I only had to hit the windows key and type a few letters of its name.

You can still do that...just go to the Windows start screen like my pressing the Windows buttons and just type a few letters of the program you want and up pops a list to select from....kinda like googling something and being offered a bunch of selections just for those listening in and not using Win 8.1 yet. I just did it. And thanks for bringing this to my attention as I frequently use that function when I was searching for info or how to quickly get into some setup menu in Win 8.1, but it never struck me to use the same function to start up one by f my programs like Word, Google Earth, etc. Greatly reduces the need to even open a Start button/menu to look for the program name/icon you want to click on to start up the program. About the only way it could have been easier is by looking at my compute and saying or thinking the program I wanted to start. Thanks.

[harrry]

...and if I wanted a program I only had to hit the windows key and type a few letters of its name.

You can still do that...just go to the Windows start screen like my pressing the Windows buttons and just type a few letters of the program you want and up pops a list to select from....kinda like googling something and being offered a bunch of selections just for those listening in and not using Win 8.1 yet. I just did it. And thanks for bringing this to my attention as I frequently use that function when I was searching for info or how to quickly get into some setup menu in Win 8.1, but it never struck me to use the same function to start up one by f my programs like Word, Google Earth, etc. Greatly reduces the need to even open a Start button/menu to look for the program name/icon you want to click on to start up the program. About the only way it could have been easier is by looking at my compute and saying or thinking the program I wanted to start. Thanks.

http://superuser.com/questions/495464/what-commands-are-available-in-windows-8-speech-recognition

thinking is not there yet but voice can be

[Pib]

Nope, I won't use voice commands. I talk to myself too much now and wouldn't be able to get a word in edge-wise to use the computer....I'll wait until Windows comes with telepathic capability.

[harrry]

Nope, I won't use voice commands. I talk to myself too much now and wouldn't be able to get a word in edge-wise to use the computer....I'll wait until Windows comes with telepathic capability.

I think few people realise how much Windows contains and how many ways of doing something.

[Pib]

Nope, I won't use voice commands. I talk to myself too much now and wouldn't be able to get a word in edge-wise to use the computer....I'll wait until Windows comes with telepathic capability.

I think few people realise how much Windows contains and how many ways of doing something.

You are on target. In the olden days a person use to get a paper manual with their software to help them learn the basics; now days it's pretty much using the Help function on the software, googling for info, go buy a manual, or if lucky maybe being able to download a manual. I learn something new about Win 8.1 almost everyday and so far its all been good. But as mentioned earlier the first few weeks with Win 8.1 comes with a big learning curve since it's quite a bit different in many ways from previous versions of Windows when in its Start/Metro menu mode, but a person can always go into the Desktop mode to return to the Land of Win 7 type menus/visuals. I kinda consider it having the best of both worlds (i.e., Win 8.1 and Win 7).