What is in a 64-bit computer?

In technology numbers and power go hand in hand. Ever since Microsoft went past good old Windows XP and starting rolling out better systems, users have had a choice between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. Most other software makers also have 32-bit and 64-bit versions of their products, like Adobe for instance. What is behind the numbers and what do they actually represent?

To use the old analogy between cars and computers, 32-bit and 64-bit are in way comparable to 4-cylinder and 8-cylinder. You definitely get more power with the bigger number but you also need more memory, more fuel to run.

Putting it simply, a 32-bit computer processor treats 32 bits of data (a series of 32 zeroes and ones) at a time, whereas a 64-bit chip processes 64 bits at a time. Though the number is a good indicator of the machine’s power, overall, the actual computer speed and performance you get in the end do not only depend on this measurement. Again, it’s just like cars. Indeed, you can have 4-cylinder vehicle that is faster than an 8-cylinder, because of several other technical factors: cylinders volume size, car weight, etc.

With users always craving faster devices and software applications getting heavier and more demanding all the time, the 64-bit model is becoming the norm. Even apparently “minor” devices like high-end smartphones are today based on 64-bit chip architecture — and to think that only a few years ago full-size desktop computers were built on slow 16-bit processors!

Until the early 1980s, only mainframe computers (now they call them servers) had 16-bit structure. Italian manufacturer Olivetti was the first to introduce 16-bit personal computers circa 1985 with its epic M20 machine. This was followed by IBM shortly after. The rest is history.

To make good use of a 64-bit system, a few things have to match it. The amount of main memory matters most. For a Windows-based laptop or desktop computer 6GB is the minimum that will do and 8GB or more are strongly recommended. Software applications must also follow. When installing Microsoft Office or Adobe Suite for instance (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.), one must ensure that everything is 64-bit, otherwise there would be no power benefit. These Adobe’s heavy-weight applications, in particular, run significantly better and faster with a global 64-bit environment.

Thanks to 64-bit systems all around, and all that goes with this important element, the question of computer power and speed is hardly an issue anymore. Machines have become truly fast enough for most every application we can imagine, except perhaps in the realm of critical, advanced scientific research and the like where computers are never fast enough. Actually 64-bit chips (servers included) are giving users satisfaction to the point that IT pundits do not envision the advent of 128-bit processors before many years, for they consider that they are simply not required at this point of the technological evolution.

Microsoft’s new Windows 10 is available in both 32- and 64-bit versions, though it would make little sense to opt for the first, unless one wants absolutely to keep it compatible with very old software and devices.

With the questions of computer speed and power behind them, users’ worries are shifting to other ones: data security, cloud usage and Internet bandwidth, to name a few. This is perfectly understandable and justified.