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Ask Slashdot: Best 32-Bit Windows System In 2012?

Posted by timothy on from the looking-backwards-fondly dept.

First time accepted submitter justthinkit writes "I have a number of applications that will not run on 64-bit Windows, but I would like to gain the benefits (most better caching) of having more than 4GB of RAM. Am I stuck with these Windows operating systems? And why is Windows Server 2008 Datacenter and Enterprise not included on that page? Should I go with a Linux or Win 7/8 system, and run a VM of Windows XP? Is this a solved problem or a lost cause?"

22 of 313 comments (clear)

  1. Windows 7 compatibility mode by pak9rabid · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What's wrong with running Windows 7 x64, and running your 32-bit applications in compatibility mode?

    1. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by mastershake82 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Generally, if they have applications that will not run on 64-bit Windows, it is because the applications are 16-bit, not 32-bit.

    2. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by Spad · · Score: 5, Informative

      Or they have shoddy legacy code that checks for 64-bit systems and refuses to run on them in the same way that a lot of older websites still keep insisting that you upgrade to IE6 in order to view them in their full glory because someone did a != instead of a =

    3. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by Spad · · Score: 3, Informative

      <=, obviously

    4. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by adonoman · · Score: 4, Informative

      XP mode on 64-bit Windows 7 can run most 16-bit apps.

    5. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by tgd · · Score: 4, Informative

      No, it can't. I don't think you realize how archaic 16-bit mode is. 16-bit mode was for running on *286* Windows. If you had a 386 you ran in 32 bits.

      No, he's correct. You're talking about WoW32, he's talking about XP Mode. XP Mode is "Windows Virtual PC" and runs XP. 16 bit apps run fine in there.

      They won't run in WoW, because the 16 bit support is a different subsystem in Windows, its not part of Win32.

    6. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by neokushan · · Score: 4, Informative

      Ahhh, I think I understand what you mean now. By "XP mode", you're in fact referring to this: http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode

      When silly me was thinking of this: http://filext.com/images/vista_compatibility_mode.gif

      Yes, the former will work for 16-bit applications. For those reading this thread, I should point out that "XP Mode" is not installed by default in Windows 7 or anything but it is a worthwhile addon if you run legacy apps.

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      +1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
    7. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For all you know he's got a 15 year old piece of industrial kit that needs 15 year old software to interface with it. Assembly line equipment maybe, oil drilling gear, CNC stuff, who the hell knows. A lot of this stuff is unsupported or the original vendor has vanished. Maybe this hardware still has years of life left in it, and the replacement value could be in the millions.

    8. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by minijedimaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, it isn't. It is XP 32bit. Looking at mine now, "Windows XP Professional" "Service Pack 3". No 64bit mentioned at all in the system properties. I don't think XP 64bit ever had a SP3 either.

    9. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by Guspaz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Considering "XP Mode" in Windows 7 is a complete copy of XP running in VirtualPC, it's a perfectly reasonable (and accurate) claim to make. That was the whole point of XP mode, after all.

    10. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by petermgreen · · Score: 4, Informative

      BTW wine can run 16-bit windows apps on 64-bit linux.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    11. Re:Windows 7 compatibility mode by cbhacking · · Score: 3, Informative

      this add-on is news to me as well. I always thought XP mode meant the compatibility mode. This is more like a XP VM on 7.

      That's actually *exactly* what it is. It uses Microsoft's (now discontinued, but still available for Win7) Virtual PC virtualization software to run 32-bit XP in a hidden root window, and then uses the Remote Desktop protocol to forward the windows from XP to Win7 so that you can interact with them and they appear on your Win7 taskbar. Some additional integration takes care of things like adding apps to the Win7 Start Menu when they are installed in the Virtual XP machine.

      You can also run the virtual XP machine as a normal VM, with a visible root window and all, if you choose to. This allows you to do things like install OS and software updates (automatic updates are enabled by default, but you may want to mess with that anyhow). Furthermore, you can forward USB ports from the Win7 host to the XP VM. This is great for things like using legacy hardware that doesn't work on Win7.

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  2. Depends on the 3D by Krneki · · Score: 5, Informative

    Do you need 3D accelerated graphics? If not, VM is the way to go. Just RDP to the machine and do what you have to do.

    --
    Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
  3. 4GB memory vs. 32-bit apps... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 3, Informative

    >> I have a number of applications that will not run on 64-bit Windows, but I would like...more than 4GB of RAM

    Do you realize that many of your 32-bit applications would freak out in a 4GB memory space?

  4. Re:VMs are not CPU emulators by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A VM can have a 32-bit OS installed.

    --
    No sig today...
  5. Re:VMs are not CPU emulators by djsmiley · · Score: 4, Funny

    VM's can fake a 32bit cpu.... its almost like there isn't a real CPU and someone is just pretending or something...

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    - http://www.milkme.co.uk
  6. Use a VM for all older software. by concealment · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Think about this critically: you probably want your operating system to be the master of its new hardware, and then you want it to interpret the needs of your older software.

    If compatibility mode won't do it, set yourself up a VM and run everything in there. You can share a drive with the host OS and thus be nearly transparent.

    It doesn't make sense to me to hobble the OS in order to run older software, when the newer OS is better with the newer hardware.

  7. Your answers with as much detail as you provided. by djsmiley · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. Yes
    2. Dunno
    3. Yes
    4. Yes
    5.... errm yes?

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    - http://www.milkme.co.uk
  8. Windows memory limitations by ilsaloving · · Score: 3, Informative

    First and foremost, all consumer 32-bit windows versions are licensed to top out at 4GB. If you want more than 4GB, you will have to buy a (reassuringly expensive) server edition that permits it. Done. End of story.

    The only other alternative is to get a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Pro. The Professional (and up) versions of Windows include something called compatibility mode, which is a free copy of Windows XP 32-bit, running inside a virtual machine. That's probably going to be your most cost-effective way of running your legacy apps on top of a 64-bit machine with oodles of RAM.

  9. Re:VMs are not CPU emulators by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A 64bit CPU can have a 32bit OS installed. That's not the point. If the 64bit CPU is what causes his applications to fail (and not some software environment problem), then running the OS in a VM won't help because it doesn't change the CPU that the application will see. VMs are not CPU emulators. The code inside the VM runs on the host CPU.

    No VM built for resource management convenience in a standard production environment is a CPU emulator, because that's horribly inefficient compared to doing passthrough. If you don't mind incurring substantial overhead, though, something like QEMU can do full emulation of an x86, ARM, MIPS, or SPARC CPU. Not at all fast, compared to passthrough(also supported with KVM or xen); but it can be done.

  10. Re:You do realize you can run things in 32 bit mod by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Informative

    However you also have to deal with developers who's apps actually check what version you're running and won't even try to install.

    It isn't much fun; but the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit provides a mechanism for telling a large number of potentially useful lies to a program about the environment it is living in... Figuring out which ones you need is an exercise for the reader; but if you manage it you can then have the OS automatically furnish those little falsehoods every time the designated program runs.

    It's a more powerful and granular version of the 'run in compatibility mode' feature, designed to keep the whiny enterprise customers happy.

  11. Windows 7 x64 with XP Mode by TrekkieTechie · · Score: 5, Informative

    This was briefly mentioned earlier, but I wanted to state clearly and concisely:

    Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate all include licensing for Windows XP Mode, a 32-bit virtualized instance of Windows XP SP3. It is an additional download (actually a couple downloads), but it is free. I use it every day at work (on my 64-bit Win7 machine) to run a 16-bit app that was written in 1992, while I wait for that app's replacement to be written. It works perfectly, in fact much better than VirtualBox did for the same use case (there was laggy/odd redrawing issues with VirtualBox, no matter how many resources I allocated to the virtual machine).