Is anyone here still using a 32 bit operating system?

[Professor Hastig]

I still know a few people using Windows 7 despite no longer being updated, but it's more than 8 years for sure that I came across a system still running a 32 bit OS.

And yet, lots of software still releases parallel 32 bit and 64 bit versions.

 

What are others' setups?

 

 

 

[Murdoch]

64 bit all the way. To still be using 32 bit in this day and age is to completely stunt yourself for no gain. Pretty much the only valid reason for 32 bit OS installs is for people who want or need to support some piece of vintage hardware that has no 64 bit drivers, or a piece of software that for some reason won't work on a 64 bit OS. I can only hope those are isolated systems and they run normal computers for most other things.

 

I am a computer technician, and the only time I have seen someone with a 32 bit installation recently was a guy who had an old netbook he was just using to run some old software that he used to program some kind of radios. But before that, I could probably count the number of times I saw 32 bit in the last 10 years on one hand and still have spare fingers.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Murdoch

[Mr. Freeze]

Been using 64 bit since Windows 8. 

[D4NUK1]

I use 64 bits since 2016, but in my work in the computer labs some computer are still 32 bits for compatibility and speed of use in windows 7.

[FecalMystAche]

As far as my primary use computers… No.. Not for like 18 years. I would never deliberately keep my primary PC(s) outdated like that. 

[Cosmic79]

64-bit for many years, currently on Windows 11.

 

What's the advantage of 32-bit? Access to old software that doesn't work on 64-bit systems?

[Graf Zahl]

The last time I used 32 bit was when my old system broke down in 2012. Even back then it was virtually unthinkable to buy a 32 bit OS with a new computer.

 

15 minutes ago, Cosmic79 said:

 

What's the advantage of 32-bit? Access to old software that doesn't work on 64-bit systems?

 

Yes, essentially. But often, to make this old software work, you not only need an old OS but also equally old hardware.

 

The more important question, of course, isn't whether people still use 32 bit OSs but why so many developers cannot leave this fossil platform behind - essentially doing double testing duty to make sure that something for less than 1% of the potential user share still works.

 

[HavoX]

Sooner or later, it will become inevitable. 32-bit OSs will become irrelevant, and we'll have to transfer to 64-bit (whether you like it or not).

Starting with Windows 8, I had to go 64-bit in order to take advantage of 8+ GB of memory. 32-bit will only handle up to 4 GB.

Edited June 23, 2023 by HavoX
typo

[ducon]

I still use 32 bits but my next machine will run on 64 bits.

I’ll try to mutate the new machine from my Debian Sid 32 bits on it to Sid 64 bits.

[magicsofa]

1 hour ago, HavoX said:

32-bit OSs will become irreverent,

 

I think you mean irrelevant

[HavoX]

4 minutes ago, magicsofa said:

I think you mean irrelevant

I THOUGHT I was missing something.. :-P

 

^{(Stupid spellchecker. Didn't catch anything.)}

Edited June 23, 2023 by HavoX

[Herr Dethnout]

Using 64-bits since 2016, and never looked back...

 

2 hours ago, Graf Zahl said:

The more important question, of course, isn't whether people still use 32 bit OSs but why so many developers cannot leave this fossil platform behind - essentially doing double testing duty to make sure that something for less than 1% of the potential user share still works.

 

There are developers who even makes 16-bits programs for no apparent reason besides using that on acient hardware... So yeah.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Herr Dethnout

[Graf Zahl]

1 hour ago, Herr Dethnout said:

There are developers who even makes 16-bits programs for no apparent reason besides using that on acient hardware... So yeah.

 

That's not what I meant. I also tinker with old software, some of which cannot be compiled as 64 bit.

What I mean is modern software that still sees double releases for both architectures. It's not just Doom ports, but also countless utilities or libraries. I can somewhat understand it for the libraries or even for applications whose code is too problematic to port to 64 bit, but doing it for an application that also gets released as 64 bit seems a bit like wasted work.

 

[LexiMax]

6 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

doing it for an application that also gets released as 64 bit seems a bit like wasted work. 

 

I recently came across an reason why certain Doomers continue to use 32-bit that actually made a sort of sense in a niche way, and that's because 64-bit drivers don't exist for certain MIDI devices they prefer to use.

 

Other than that, though, I agree.  16-bit x86 has a certain retro-computing allure to it because the world of 16-bit Real Mode is so different from modern systems, but 32-bit protected mode is just a 64-bit protected mode with less memory and fewer guaranteed CPU instructions.

[MFG38]

I think the last 32-bit machine I had was my old Acer laptop that I used from 2009 to 2012 (which would've been my first and only 32-bit machine). Or maybe the Asus I had right after that. Either way, I know for sure that I've been strictly 64-bit for at least the past 6 years.

[Al-Faris M]

The last time I had a 32-bit OS was Windows 8 for 3 years, when I upgraded to Windows 10 I used it as a 32-bit OS for some time until I figured out I can reboot it to get 64-bits, I did it because of the programs that don't support 32-bit.

[eharper256]

Well, my workplace still requires a program originally written for Windows 3.1.

I have no idea how our IT managed to get it to work on Windows 10, but it still uses a 180 x 120 pixel window (which is unchangable, and of course tiny on our dual-monitors), and only has partial mouse support (you have to TAB and use Arrow Keys through some of the options). So yeah, crazy ass legacy programs exist that will never get replaced whilst its cheaper to not.

Personally, though, I've used 64-bit since my old Windows 7 build about 10 years ago, since I built that machine with 12 Gb of RAM and it was required.

Edited June 23, 2023 by eharper256

[Graf Zahl]

1 hour ago, eharper256 said:

Well, my workplace still requires a program originally written for Windows 3.1.

I have no idea how our IT managed to get it to work on Windows 10, but it still uses a 180 x 120 pixel window (which is unchangable, and of course tiny on our dual-monitors), and only has partial mouse support (you have to TAB and use Arrow Keys through some of the options). So yeah, crazy ass legacy programs exist that will never get replaced whilst its cheaper to not.

 

The irony here is that it probably WILL be cheaper to replace it instead of dealing with the running cost of keeping such a dinosaur working. Anyway, welcome to the enterprise workplace...

 

 

[vyruss]

I've been using 64 bits since 2005 for my daily drivers.  Haven't thought to look back. 

[smeghammer]

I have a couple of ancient Dell D610 laptops - these are 32 bit all the way. Running Ubuntu 16(?) on them because that is the last version of Ubuntu that had a 32 bit version AFAICR. They are fun to fire up occasionally.

 

My main boxes are all 64 bit though.

[Wadmodder Shalton]

And because NTVDM and the 16-bit Windows on Windows subsystems were discontinued by Microsoft with the release of Windows 11, no one is interested in re-releasing any Windows 3.1-era PC games on digital distribution platforms like GOG or Steam via OTVDM anytime soon.

 

In other words, don't expect Night Dive Studios, Piko Interactive or Ziggurat Interactive to re-release any Windows 3.1-era PC games via OTVDM on GOG or Steam, anytime soon.

[Graf Zahl]

Why would anyone bother to release an unremastered Windows 3.1 game? The UX of those would be rather underwhelming. On the other hand, if it gets remastered, none of what you said matters anymore.

 

[eharper256]

1 hour ago, Graf Zahl said:

 

The irony here is that it probably WILL be cheaper to replace it instead of dealing with the running cost of keeping such a dinosaur working. Anyway, welcome to the enterprise workplace...

Well it's the government in my case, lol. It's more the problem that all IT decisions are made by people who have no idea about IT, so the government is always overcharged only to be delivered crap software repeatedly. The irony is, this ancient thing is by far one of the more stable systems we have, even if the UI is awful.

But yes, my favourite is the fact that the entire airline booking system STILL works on a command line interface from the 80's (there's some funny youtube videos about that).

[TasAcri]

9 hours ago, Murdoch said:

64 bit all the way. To still be using 32 bit in this day and age is to completely stunt yourself for no gain. Pretty much the only valid reason for 32 bit OS installs is for people who want or need to support some piece of vintage hardware that has no 64 bit drivers, or a piece of software that for some reason won't work on a 64 bit OS. I can only hope those are isolated systems and they run normal computers for most other things.

 

I am a computer technician, and the only time I have seen someone with a 32 bit installation recently was a guy who had an old netbook he was just using to run some old software that he used to program some kind of radios. But before that, I could probably count the number of times I saw 32 bit in the last 10 years on one hand and still have spare fingers.

 

Even if you want to use a program or device driver that for some reason doesn't work in a 64bit OS, there's always the solution of virtualization.VMware, Virtual PC, etc. You can even do 16bit stuff while you are at it. No need to compromise your main OS.

 

The only reason for someone to use a 32bit OS as their main is if they have a device with 1 GB RAM or less. But even then you can find better systems in the recycle bin or something so i don't know why anyone would be stuck with such device for very long.

 

 

5 hours ago, Herr Dethnout said:

There are developers who even makes 16-bits programs for no apparent reason besides using that on acient hardware... So yeah.

 

Yeah, most of these (if not all) are projects for fun or for devs to challenge themselves with something odd because why not.

Edited June 23, 2023 by TasAcri

[DynamiteKaitorn]

Been on 64-Bit for a long time now but I wish I had a semi-decent rig that ran 32x windows (specifically Win7) since there's some older games I can't get running on Win 10/11 and GOG/Steam/etc.. doesn't sell all of them. 

[maxmanium]

Aren't you limited to 4GB RAM on 32-bit OSes? You could only do, like, a single thing at a time.

[Blzut3]

Been running 64-bit since I switched full time to Linux in 2008.  I do play with old hardware, so I do technically run 32-bit operating systems from time to time but not for any serious purposes.

 

5 hours ago, maxmanium said:

Aren't you limited to 4GB RAM on 32-bit OSes? You could only do, like, a single thing at a time. 

Individual applications are limited, but as a whole PAE allows up to 64GB.  Common misconception though since client versions of Windows are only licensed for up to 4GB since XP SP2 (so RTM/SP1 allowed more), allegedly mostly for practical reasons since bad drivers may have issues with more than 4GB of memory.  Was better to just push everyone over to the 64-bit version than deal with the mess.  However Linux and macOS allowed everyone to use PAE, granted the overlap of systems you'd realistically have over 4GB of ram in AND need to run 32-bit is pretty small.

 

8 hours ago, smeghammer said:

Running Ubuntu 16(?) on them because that is the last version of Ubuntu that had a 32 bit version AFAICR.

Officially yes, but 18.04 still had support.  If my memory serves you could do an in place upgrade from 16.04 on Ubuntu, but for clean installs it was just the lightweight versions (Lubuntu/Xubuntu) that continued to provide 32-bit install media.  This is why I only this month ended support for 32-bit in my APT repo since 18.04 just ended standard support.

 

The just released Debian 12 still has 32-bit support (will be interesting to see if they cut it for Debian 13), but now seems like a good time to shift packaging effort over to aarch64 which is gaining in popularity.

[Kinsie]

8 hours ago, Wadmodder Shalton said:

And because NTVDM and the 16-bit Windows on Windows subsystems were discontinued by Microsoft with the release of Windows 11, no one is interested in re-releasing any Windows 3.1-era PC games on digital distribution platforms like GOG or Steam via OTVDM anytime soon.

 

In other words, don't expect Night Dive Studios, Piko Interactive or Ziggurat Interactive to re-release any Windows 3.1-era PC games via OTVDM on GOG or Steam, anytime soon.

There are way bigger issues with re-releasing Windows 3.1 games than just 16-bit support. That can be worked around. Other things can't be.

[Murdoch]

9 hours ago, Wadmodder Shalton said:

In other words, don't expect Night Dive Studios, Piko Interactive or Ziggurat Interactive to re-release any Windows 3.1-era PC games via OTVDM on GOG or Steam, anytime soon.

 

Genuine question- what windows 3.1 games do you think should be remastered? I researched this recently and there were comparatively few unique to 3.1 games and fewer still (if any) were major popular titles. This squared with my own recollection from the time. Also skimming through the list, at a guess a minimum of 75% of them were made by companies that no longer exist. So not only do you have games that weren't that popular but getting the relevant rights and permissions might be difficult to impossible. The business case doesn't add up.

[Kyle07]

I got Vista 64bit in December 2008. In December 2011 I got Win7. The previous PC went to my parents and I gave them my Win7 32bit copy, so that they don't have to use Vista. Now my parents have a new PC with Win11. I guess this is 64bit. Is there even a 32bit version?

Edited June 24, 2023 by Kyle07