Why are there 32-bit editions of Windows 8?

Question

64-bit CPUs have been around for about 10 years now, maybe more. Most computers have such CPUs (I don't think 32-bit CPUs are even manufactured anymore).

And there are a lot of computers that have more than 4GB of RAM (especially in the consumer sector), which 32-bit OS-es can't work with (let's ignore PAE for the sake of conversation).

In these conditions, why is there a 32-bit version of Windows 8 ? All editions (regular, Pro, Enterprise and RT) have a 32-bit and a 64-bit version. Aside from the RT edition, having a 32-bit version just doesn't make sense to me.

Shouldn't we completely give up on 32-bit OSes ? Is it still too early ?

Answer 1

As an administrator of Virtual Machines, I don't entirely mind 32bit builds. If you're making a machine that doesn't need over 4GB of memory, then by using a 32bit OS, all your software consumes less memory when it runs. That's because for 64bit builds, the software keeps 64bit address pointers, not 32bit ones. So they end up eating more memory just to do the same thing.

In the case of Windows 8, it may also have a bit do with backwards compatibility, which is a long-running Microsoft thing. Perhaps some older (but pimp) 32bit server would benefit from an upgrade from an older version of windows? It's a lazy case, but so are a lot of Windows admins.

Finally, I'll offer the idle speculation that Windows 8 is a software project evolved out of a long running series. The 32bit branch may be more of a barnacle than a serious product.

Edit:

Perhaps the best answer would be people pay for 32bit Windows 8. Whether or not it makes good sense probably doesn't matter that much to the people doing the selling. I wager if no one bought it, it'd vanish pretty fast.

Edit #2: It occurs to me that there may be some low-end x86 cpus intended for mobile applications that aren't 64bit. I have a Windows 8 based tablet with a little Atom chip, my actual chip is 64bit but the machine runs 32bit windows. Perhaps other similar devices have legitimately 32bit chips??

Answer 2

There's one objective reason that I have not seen mentioned in the other replies yet: drivers.

Even if your CPU is 64 bit, there may some device that you can't live without, for which there are only 32 bit drivers. Without a 32 bit version of Windows, you would be out of luck, since Windows requires drivers of the same bitness as the OS.

But even so, Windows 8 runs quite decently on the higher end 32 bit only CPUs. For example, recently, I installed the 32 bit version of Windows 8 on a Thinkpad T60 after realizing that its 2 GHz Core Duo processor didn't have 64 bit support.

Answer 3

32bit is still required for low spec Tablets like Baytrail ATOM 8" Tablets. They only have 2GB RAM and the 64Bit uses too much RAM and this makes them slower.

Answer 4

The only reason I can surmise is to give Intel or AMD an opportunity to produce a super low-powered processor, which may be easier to get to ARM-like power consumption levels if it's a classic 32-bit processor, for use in a tablet, smartphone or other portable device.

Intel has been trying to break into the phone market for years and this may be Windows trying to help them out.

Shouldn't we completely give up on 32-bit OSes ? Is it still too early ?

Since 64-bit x86 CPU's can run 32-bit code, and since Windows 64-bit versions will run "legacy" 32-bit based programs, there's not much need to worry if you are running relatively modern programs.

32-bit Windows editions did allow the execution of old 16-bit based programs. This capability was dropped in 64-bit versions of Windows starting with Windows XP x64. Software of this nature is very old, though.

Answer 5

The answer is very simple: Backwards compatibility.

When 128 bit machines become the standard, one can ask the same thing for 64 bit software. Windows 7 was originally supposed to be 64 bit only, but there are so many people using 32 bit only software that Microsoft had to back down and make 32 bit versions.