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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.
You can't collect surveillance data on people with older computers if you aren't offering them an OS that will run on it that can collect surveillance data for you, that's why.
64 bit ms office doesn't work as well as 32 bit. This has been known since at least 2 office versions ago. Also Office plugins don't work because they plugin directly to Office memory space, not something like sockets or other common protocol.
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Heck I have an AS/400 in my server room right now.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
+1 from me as well. I can't believe some of the previous replies all agreeing with this nonsense that because they want 64 bits the entire world needs to magically switch all of their existing infrastructure to 64 bits as well. There are vast, staggering amounts of gear still running on or controlled by or dependant on 32-bit code. Moving all that to 64 bits is a magnitude of effort that makes it essentially impossible. The reason why Microsoft still supports 32-bit code is that they can't afford not to, despite what the hipsters would want them to do. They care, or used to care, about existing customers. That's why Windows is the most popular (non-mobile) OS in the world, up until they went full retard with Windows 8 you could run whatever version of Windows was then current and plug in your existing, 10-20 year old devices and equipment, and they'd still be supported. Legacy support, taken to extremes (look at the entire database of legacy shims built into Windows), were what made Windows so popular.