Question about 32bit and 64bit Win7

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" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> 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
>
>

"tlee" <> wrote:

>I am confusion about 32bit and 64bit OS.

>Could anyone inform me about their different?

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?

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 ?

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

--
Tim Slattery

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Tlee,

To learn more about the differences to 32-bit vs. 64-bit architectur
and which version within Windows 7 would best meet your needs, please g
here: 'Windows 7 Features: 64-bit Support' (http://tinyurl.com/y9v3fu4)

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Tea

--
Jessica
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.co

Hello all,

Thank you very much for yours kindly messages.

tlee


>
> Tlee,
>
> To learn more about the differences to 32-bit vs. 64-bit architecture
> and which version within Windows 7 would best meet your needs, please go
> here: 'Windows 7 Features: 64-bit Support' (http://tinyurl.com/y9v3fu4)
>
> Jessica
> Microsoft Windows Client Team
>
>
> --
> JessicaD
> Posted via http://www.vistaheads.com
>