For the majority of business IT systems, 64-bit computing is a giant unexploited power source. Intel and AMD, the leading CPU chip makers, have been delivering 64-bit ability in their commodity CPUs for years, with the result that all types of business computing hardware such as notebooks, desktop computers, high-powered workstations and back-office servers now have the architecture to operate in 64-bit mode. Yet the majority of these computers still host 32-bit operating systems and applications.
The primary reason for this common hesitation to join the 64-bit millennium is that the business advantage for updating existing computers has seemed to be modest in relation to the work needed. There is no seamless process to upgrade from a 32 to a 64-bit OS. The enhancement requires a clean installation, which means reinstalling existing applications, backing up and recovering data files, and installing new drivers. This demands thorough planning to carry out efficiently. Meanwhile, most office applications are currently available only in 32-bit editions, so what's the benefit?
Benefits of Moving Up to 64-bit Computing
The advantages of 64-bit over 32-bit processing may appear to be subtle and hard to quantify, yet they are significant. The RAM partitioning techniques utilized by 32-bit systems are essentially an engineering band-aid that undermines stability. Memory-starved programs are often not able to utilize free RAM because the operating system cannot assign it efficiently. This results in programs shutting down or performing erratically even when a machine appears to have ample unused RAM. In addition, 64-bit operating systems allow far more addressable memory than 32-bit systems and crunch twice as much information per CPU cycle. You can also jump from one memory-hungry application to another more quickly when you are using a 64-bit system. Basically, 64-bit processing makes environments more reliable, more expandable, and more efficient, which in turn makes businesses more competitive.
Microsoft's 64-bit Processing Initiative
Microsoft's “x64” technology supports the 64-bit CPUs used in virtually all servers and desktop PCs currently deployed in office IT environments. (Microsoft's "Itanium" technology is restricted to special high-end Intel and AMD CPUs processors and is designed for applications that require massive multi-processing.) Before the availability of Office 2010, most Microsoft desktop programs including Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 were available only in 32-bit editions, which can still be run on x64 Windows. The latest family of Microsoft Office 2010 offers dramatic improvements. As an example, Microsoft Office Excel 2010 is offered in a 64-bit version that allows you to create spreadsheets with huge databases that are not restricted by the 2-gigabyte file size that hampers previous releases of Office Excel.
Microsoft offers native x64 editions of many Microsoft Server platforms, such as Windows Server 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and 2005, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Commerce Server, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006, plus Operations Manager. Microsoft Windows Server x64 editions are priced the same as their 32-bit editions, so typically it costs nothing more for 64-bit server software or machines.
For desktop PCs, Microsoft offers Windows 7 and Windows 8 in same-price 64-bit editions that offer advanced stability, capacity, and throughput. Like all upgrades from 32-bit to 64-bit platforms, the upgrade can't be carried out seamlessly. Every workstation and server needs a clean setup that entails reconfiguring applications, saving and recovering data, and configuring 64-bit device drivers. On the other hand, for typical current desktop PCs, and for every PC running Microsoft Windows XP, any version of Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows 8 requires you to carry out a clean installation. Consequently, there has never been a better opportunity to move to x64 computing on the workstation, since it will require scarcely any extra effort.
How Progent Can Assist Your Business to Migrate to 64-bit Computing
In addition to assisting you to evaluate the business advantages, expenses, and technical variables attached to migrating to 64-bit processing, Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can help you design, document, implement, manage, and troubleshoot a system-wide move to 64-bit server and client OS software and business applications. Progent can help you pilot your 64-bit environment to verify that it handles all of the important 32-bit applications that you intend to keep plus the new 64-bit versions of applications you wish to run. If moving to Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 is included in your x64 migration plan, Progent's Windows 7 engineers, Windows 8.1 migration consultants, and Windows 10 evaluation and migration experts can help your company to determine which workstation computers and programs can or ought to be preserved, and plan an upgrade procedure that is minimally disturbing to your business productivity.
Other ways Progent's consultants can assist you to migrate to x64 computing include: