Question about 32bit and 64bit Win7

  • Thread starter Thread starter tlee
  • Start date Start date
T

tlee

Hello,

I am confusion about 32bit and 64bit OS.

Could anyone inform me about their different?

If using 64bit OS (Win7), does it similar to Mac OS X that auto switch to
support 32bit and 64bit device driver?

I mean can I install 32bit device driver into 64bit Win7 ?

Thanks

tlee
 
64bit Win7 requires that your hardware has 64 bit drivers
You can use 64 or 32 bit programs, eg MS Office is currently only 32bit
Generally a 32bit driver wont work.
Win7, depending on version, I believe, has a winxp compatibility mode for
older software
 
tlee said:
I am confusion about 32bit and 64bit OS.
Click to expand...
Could anyone inform me about their different?
Click to expand...

The 32-bit /64-bit description refers to the hardware's word length.
Having a longer word means, among other things, that there is more
address space. So a 64-bit machine can use more RAM than a 32-bit one.
Not just twice as much, but many, many times as much.
If using 64bit OS (Win7), does it similar to Mac OS X that auto switch to
support 32bit and 64bit device driver?
Click to expand...

Not sure just what OSX does. A 64-bit machine can run either 32-bit or
64-bit software. (A 32-bit machine can run only 32-bit software, of
course). There are *many* 64-bit computers running 32-bit Windows. The
64-bit Windows systems will run 32-bit programs just fine. They will
not run any 16-bit software that you may still have around.
I mean can I install 32bit device driver into 64bit Win7 ?
Click to expand...

No. You have to have 64-bit drivers for the 64-bit OS.
 
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