DECIDING BETWEEN THE 32-BIT AND THE 64-BIT VERSIONS OF "WINDOWS 7"

Some of the answers to the 32-bit versus 64-bit selection issue can be found at

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/32-bit-64-bit-faq.aspx

A better, more objective discussion is available at

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5709

and

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-choose-between-32-bit-64-bit-windows-7-operating-systems/

The bottom line is that 32-bit processors are gradually disappearing from the marketplace.

The boxed version of "Windows 7" comes with both a 32-bit DVD and a 64-bit DVD.

When you install "Windows 7", you can defer putting in a 25-character "Product Key" for up to 120 days. See

http://windowssecrets.com/2009/08/20/01-Use-any-version-of-Windows-7-free-for-120-days

In other words, if one buys the boxed version of Windows 7, one can install the 64-bit version of Windows 7 and evaluate it for up to 120 days. During that generous time period, if the 64-bit version has too many hardware and software "gotchas", then one can use a previously-made "Macrium Reflect Free Edition" or "Acronis True Image 200x" backup to restore the computer back to the previous version of Windows and then one can use the 32-bit "Windows 7" DVD to put in the 32-bit version of "Windows 7".

During the past 3 months, I have made 5 similar conversions (from a 32-bit version of "Windows Vista" to a 64-bit version of "Windows 7" with only 1 minor software incompatibility and 1 minor software incompatibility:

The hardware incompatibility consisted of a failed hardware driver for an ancient Hewlett Packard “Laserjet 2100”. Hewlett Packard resolved this problem by issuing an updated printer driver for this model in November 2009.

The software problem was a malfunctioning software application for editing AVI video files. This problem was to resolved by running the uncooperative software application inside "XP Mode" inside "Windows Virtual PC".