32 or 64 bit

[nataliafoster26]

im about to download ubuntu 10.04 (not 11 because i hear it got bugs anyways) but not sure if to choose 32 or 64 bit. i have a 64 bit o.s. windows 7 . would it make a difference for 32 or 64, i see 32 is the one recommended.
thanks

[Buntumatic]

64 all the way.

[nataliafoster26]

ok but what would be the difference between 32 and 64?

[QIII]

Every version of everything has its bugs.

64 bit OSes and software take advantage of the increased performance of 64 bit machine architecture and instruction sets. 32 bit OSes and software will generally run on a 64 bit machine, but will gain no performance advantage.

[lukeiamyourfather]

This comes up on the forum all the time, do a search. Long story short if you have 64-bit capable hardware then 64-bit Ubuntu is the best option for most users.

[Buntumatic]

ok but what would be the difference between 32 and 64?

I shall mention 64-bit Linux matured a long time ago, way before MS got there (are they there now?). Accessing more than ~1 GiB memory is a hack on 32-bit systems, just stop thinking 32-bit.

[Ecip]

Heh, this topic has been beat to hell and back. If you have a 64 bit processor, 64 bit is the way to go.

[oldfred]

Moved to Recurring Discussions where is next to many similar threads.

[Snowmane]

My PC is a Intel x64 with 4GB of RAM.
I read rumours about some problems with Ubuntu 11.10 x64.
So... install x32 or x64?

Thanks!

[mcduck]

Running a 64-bit system really shouldn't cause you any problems these days. I'd definitely recommend making a 64-bit install since your hardware supports it.