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Why Does Microsoft Still Offer a 32-bit OS? (backblaze.com)
Brian Wilson, a founder of cloud storage service BackBlaze, writes in a blog post: Moving over to a 64-bit OS allows your laptop to run BOTH the old compatible 32-bit processes and also the new 64-bit processes. In other words, there is zero downside (and there are gigantic upsides). Because there is zero downside, the first time it could, Apple shipped with 64-bit OS support. Apple did not give customers the option of "turning off all 64-bit programs." Apple first shipped 64-bit support in OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in 2009. This was so successful that Apple shipped all future Operating Systems configured to support both 64-bit and 32-bit processes. All of them. But let's contrast the Apple approach with that of Microsoft. Microsoft offers a 64-bit OS in Windows 10 that runs all 64-bit and all 32-bit programs. This is a valid choice of an Operating System. The problem is Microsoft ALSO gives customers the option to install 32-bit Windows 10 which will not run 64-bit programs. That's crazy. Another advantage of the 64-bit version of Windows is security. There are a variety of security features such as ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) that work best in 64-bits. The 32-bit version is inherently less secure. By choosing 32-bit Windows 10 a customer is literally choosing a lower performance, LOWER SECURITY, Operating System that is artificially hobbled to not run all software. My problem is this: Backblaze, like any good technology vendor, wants to be easy to use and friendly. In this case, that means we need to quietly, invisibly, continue to support BOTH the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of every Microsoft OS they release. And we'll probably need to do this for at least 5 years AFTER Microsoft officially retires the 32-bit only version of their operating system.
It's also about being able to run legacy 16 bit programs. The 32 bit versions of Windows NT have a 16 bit subsystem, while the 64 bit versions have a 32 bit subsystem, but no 16 bit subsystem.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
It's not rocket science - many people still use PCs that have 32-bit processors.
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Some software packages (stupidly) check to see if a WIndows OS is 32 bit or 64 bit before running or installing and if it's not 32 bit, they don't start. How do I know this? I know a person who runs their business on an outdated software package with exactly that limitation, which is why upgrading their office network was a hell of a challenge to ensure we got 32 bit versions of Win 7 Pro when we bought the equipment.
Why don't they get a new version? Because the company that makes the software is out of business
Why don't they use something else? Because they LIKE this package and for what it does, it works well.
Also, don't device drivers for 64-bit Windows need to be signed? I.e. they need to be current device drivers in active development, which won't be the case for a lot of legacy hardware.
Breakfast served all day!
It probably would have activated automatically without extracting the CD key. Once you install and successfully activate Windows 10 on a computer, Microsoft records the hardware configuration in their giant database in the cloud and if you every do a fresh reinstall, it will recognize your computer and activate it without the need for the key. I went through the trouble of extracting the CD key on a little mini laptop that didn't have enough storage space to upgrade to the newest version of Window 10 (the laptop originally shipped with Win 8) and upon reinstalling, it automagically activated itself without me having to enter in the key.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
That's the general answer. There is also a very specific answer in the case of Windows: 64-bit editions of Windows cannot run Win16 apps. There are still (FML) significant chunks of Win16 code out there, which everyone can agree is a pain in the ass but it's still a reality for some verticals. There may be some other compatibility considerations, too - right now I'm too drunk to check, but DOS emulation is different between the 32 and 64 bit editions.
You can still install the drivers. You just need to set the permission level using this:
/set nointegritychecks ON
bcdedit
THIS! Add to that the fact that some business only run 32bit legacy software and running a 64bit OS would do nothing but add overhead.
Microsoft supports legacy computers and software much better than Apple does.
Heck, I got a request today for a Windows XP ISO to rebuild a PC that runs machine control software.. (And no, it not connected to a network.)
Some software just won't run in a 64 bit environment, regardless of WoW64 and thunking. Most of the software that is the most rigidly tied to a 32 bit environment is the kind of software that is also the most mission critical. The kind of software that operates radar ARPAs, hospital respirators, navigation systems, and MRIs. Apple, as pretty as it is, just doesn't have the presence in the industrial side of things that Microsoft does - in fact they don't have any industrial presence to speak of. As a desktop only computer, they are more free to adopt new OS features that render old software incompatible. Many beloved programs from the past have been rendered inoperable by a MacOS upgrade. While inconvenient for the user, it is hardly catastrophic.
Now, no one is going to perform an OS upgrade on an existing MRI of course. But there are many reasons why an MRI vendor would want to bring out a new model with a new (perhaps more secure) version of Windows, but where the software is still tied to 32 bit. Industrial software is far less agile. You just can't recompile for 64 bit, it has to go through very strict verification and rigid change control. That kind of process takes years, and costs far more than most software porting. What about that 80 year old who has had a forgotten metal bit in his shoulder for 40 years who is put into an MRI to have that bit forcibly ripped out of his body by because the magnetic flux feedback detection didn't work properly when the 32-bit driver for it was mis-ported to 64 bit?
So while Microsoft is hardly a company I regularly defend, in this case you just can't compare a company that only puts out pretty ergonomic desktop machines and keeps draconian control of hardware to the extent that you really can't use the OS anywhere else, and a company that produces OSes for everyone's hardware that ranges from embedded microcontrollers, to warship navigation systems, to tablets.
For those unfamiliar with the reasons here...
When AMD developed x64, instead of creating yet another mode that the processor can be in, they "hijacked" the 16-bit mode. So an x64 CPU can simultaneously juggle (*) 16-bit and 32-bit, or 64-bit and 32-bit, but it cannot juggle 64-bit and 16-bit simultaneously.
Also, its not going to ever change. The design specifically precludes mixing 64-bit and 16-bit because both sets of instructions use the same prefix byte to coerce the following instruction to/from the regular 32-bit version or the "other" version (16-bit or 64-bit.)
And finally, the nail in the coffin, is once in 64-bit mode it cannot get back to 16-bit mode without a power down/reset. This part could be fixed, but that still doesnt do you any good mixing 16-bit and 64-bit.
(*) "Thunking" between CPU modes.
"His name was James Damore."
CPU boots to Real mode (16-bit).
OS switches the CPU from Real to Protected mode (32-bit).
OS then switches from Protected mode (32-bit) to Long mode (64-bit).
Only Protected mode supports emulating Real mode. This emulation is called Virtual 86 mode.
And just like Protected mode emulates Real mode, Long mode emulates Protected mode.
Once in Long mode, the only way to get out of it is a hard reset.
Just another note on EOLed equipment: Intel ONLY stopped producing the i386 in 2007 (nearly 20 years of production for the CPU) because it was that widely used.
Because you are running custom ISA cards driven by custom software and FreeDOS doesn't support any of that?
I've had to throw together Pentium Is for a mill that has a CNC that does very intricate custom columns, the kind of stuff you see in mansions...unfortunately the company that made the hardware went out of business in the mid 80s and with that particular setup it would ONLY run on DOS 3 and ONLY on a system below 233Mhz so I was severely limited in my options but I have run into setups with laser cutters and the like where you could get the controller software to run on 32bit Win 7 with some futzing, 64bit? Not a chance in hell. and when you look up the costs of replacing these systems? Its the kind of numbers that can kill a SMB, we're talking serious 6 figures for a single unit.
So yeah I can see why MSFT still does 32bit in 2017, its because so few realize just how many extremely expensive mission critical hardware runs on 32bit but for whatever reason (company went OOB, company refuses to update trying to force new hardware sales,hell with one large commercial printer I had to build some 32bit systems to support the company had gone through so many hands that frankly there was nobody left who knew enough to support the older units) simply cannot get what they have to have running on 64bit.
After all what good is having a 64bit OS if it leaves your employees sitting on ass because crucial hardware can no longer be used?
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.