Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit - Resolved

[allanlinwood]

Hi I wanted to find the general consensus on what people are currently rolling out in regards to using 32bit or 64bit versions on their desktops and any issues they have found.

 

Obviously I am aware of the memory gain advantage of 64 bit versions, but more specifically any day to day working issues or any reasons to stick with 32bit.

 

Look forward to your thoughts.

 

Update:

*** THanks everyone for your input. I think I have made my decision now. ***

Edited December 3, 2013 by allanlinwood
Resolved

[chazzy2501]

Stuck with 32bit as I'm using 32 bit office, it's kinder on older hardware. (it'll accept unsigned drivers etc.)

 

Didn't want to redo scripts and GPOP to accommodate the programs x86 folder rubbish.

 

I'll go 64bit with the Windows 9 push.

[6Foot2]

We have 64 Bit on all stations. The 32 Bit Office question is not an issue as we run that here [2010 and 2013] without and don't see any problems outside of what you might expect from Office.

[localzuk]

We went entirely with 64bit here. It provided us with an opportunity to shed the 90s 16bit software that was still lying around.

 

Not had any issues to do with it. All our machines have a minimum of 4GB RAM anyway, so 32bit wouldn't have utilised it all properly.

 

We still use 32bit Office though, as even Microsoft don't recommend 64bit Office yet.

 

We restructured our AD at the same time, moving to Server 2012 for it though. So we redid most of our group policies and removed the need for the vast majority of scripts. We also implemented SCCM 2012, and built a new library of installers for software.

 

Took some legwork to get up and running but now its running, it saves us so much time. Deploying software takes a few minutes total now.

Edited December 3, 2013 by localzuk

[synaesthesia]

64bit here, I see 32bit operating systems as little more than something waiting to be killed as a known bug. Regardless, 32bit Office anyway for well known reasons, and we have zero issues. Plus with memory requirements rising, it helps futureproof somewhat. We can easily add 8gb of ram to our Media machines without worrying about the version of windows involved.

[allanlinwood]

OK I think that pretty much sums up my thoughts already. We do have quite a lot of older software lurking around the network and with a new campus to build we are starting new hardware, but with some old titles. It will be a case of suck it and see I think.

 

Thanks already for those who have responded.

[sparkeh]

Just to echo above really, all 64bit here (with Office 32bit), no problems (after ditching the crappy software that needed binning anyway )

[FN-GM]

When we first rollout of Windows 7 years ago we put on x86. Since then we have moved them all to x64. We had 0 issues, users didn't know it had happened. We had them same concerns as you at the time, we wish we would have gone to x64 to begin with to be honest.

[Sheridan]

Nearly all 64bit here, with 32bit when hardware forces us to!

[pete]

64bit, apart from the occasional small IT base / laptop with bizarre software that I haven't wrestled into submission.

[CHR1S]

64Bit with Office 64Bit too, I was unaware of any issues running this version over 32Bit... not had any issues here (touch wood)

[free780]

95% 64bit . A few 32 bit pcs due to software/drivers. We have quite a few pcs with autocad which sucks on 32 bit due to the memory limit.

[Arthur]

100% 64-bit Windows here because there's more and more software that requires a 64-bit OS (lots of the Adobe Creative Cloud apps, PowerShell DSC etc.).

 

I was unaware of any issues running this version over 32-bit

There aren't any issues per se. The only reason to stick with the 32-bit version of Office would be so that you could continue to use older (32-bit-only) plug-ins. We don't rely on any 32-bit plug-ins so compatibility is a non-issue for us.

 

I wish we went with the 64-bit version of Office 2013 from the start since some teachers have already reached the limits of the 32-bit version of Excel.

[allanlinwood]

OK thanks very much guys for your input. I think that pretty much concludes this now

 

How do you close a thread

[LeMarchand]

Primary Schools, so no "power" software, all 32-bit apart from one suite and a few office/admin machines on 64-bit that were done when I was of the opinion that 64 must be > 32. Whilst possibly true in "normal" scenarios, the refusal of staff to stop using 16-bit software that they probably used themselves in Year 1 means that my life is much easier with 32-bit.

[6Foot2]

...How do you close a thread

 

If you can still edit the original post you can click 'Go Advanced' and from there you can change the title of the thread (Maybe add a tag: [Resolved])

 

http://i.snag.gy/FyfKP.jpg

[apeman]

64 bit Windows and Office and no issues. We even got rid of JAVA too yay

[gmonks]

64 bit on most systems here. Most systems have 4GB memory so it gets utilized. Still using 32-bit Office.