Upgrading from 32 bit - 64 bit

[rdumas]

I have been running Ubuntu 8.10 32 bit. I works well and I an very happy.
I loaded the 32 because some one said if in doubte go with the 32.
I have a Toshiba lap top with an AMD Turion 64x2 which would tell me that it could handle the 64 bit. Right?
My real question is if I went up to the 64 bit would it really make my machine that much faster, and if it would how do I do it?
Would I have to burn another disc image and boot it the same way I did the first time?
Would it really be worth it?

[kpatz]

How much RAM do you have? The biggest benefit to 64-bit is being able to use 4+ GB of RAM. If you have less than that, and you're happy with your 32-bit install, you might as well just keep things as is. As they say, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". :)

You'll have to reinstall, there's no "upgrade" from 32 to 64-bit.

[rdumas]

Yea thanks I only have 2 gig of ram. I think you are right. I won't fix it.
Thanks!

[Therion]

I have a Toshiba lap top with an AMD Turion 64x2 which would tell me that it could handle the 64 bit. Right?
Correct.


My real question is if I went up to the 64 bit would it really make my machine that much faster, and ... Would it really be worth it?
I'm going to say no to that, AND yes. I notice a very real difference between 32 and 64 bit distros but I can't say that's "speed". It is more of a smoothness and overall responsiveness that is related to speed, I suppose, but not entirely. It's a hard thing to explain exactly, but once you've experienced it, you won't want to give it up. It's an awesome thing.

You can't "upgrade" from 32-bit to 64-bit though, without doing a fresh-install from the ground up. I can't tell you if you doing a fresh install to go from 32 to 64 bit is going to be worth it to you or not. Personally, I will NEVER go back to a 32-bit distro if I don't have to. I've also been known to do a fresh install out of utter boredom so they're no big deal to me. I know that for a lot of people though the idea of doing a fresh install is only marginally preferable to, say, participating in the Rattan Death March so if you're happy where you're at it's hard to argue with the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" adage.

[oldos2er]

I ran 64-bit Ubuntu with 2G RAM for a long time, with no issues. I doubt if you will notice much of a speed increase in day-to-day use, but some things like video encoding were faster under 64-bit.