Ubuntu

64 bit version, "Not recommended for daily pc use." ??

Asked by Citizen Kane

Can anyone explain why?

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George Standish
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Best George Standish (george-standish-deactivatedaccount) said : 		#1

Says who?

I see no compelling reason not to use Ubuntu Desktop 64bit for daily pc use. There can be a few more technical hoops to jump through for specific items, but generally everything should work exactly the same as on 32bit systems.

If you do decide to go 64bit, installing 32bit software may require installation of 32bit libraries, a program called "getlibs" can make this task much easier!

Best of luck, on 32 or 64bit!

George

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Citizen Kane (ck-citizenkane) said : 		#2

Thanks for the reply, George, and the tips but I was referring to the warning on the download page and search the knowledge base for an explanation but found no reference. I want to install the 64 bit on a quad /w 8gb ram and a 1gb NVidia graphics card and was wondering if there was any risk?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

No idea at all. I've seen folks ask this. I think its because 32bit works on both. Some drivers for crappy Lexmark things only come in 32bit flavour but can be worked around. If you have a 64bit CPU, Get the 64bit version and it will be fine.

Is a dumb thing to put on the site and confuses many folks (including me) so you arent alone.

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George Standish (george-standish-deactivatedaccount) said : 		#4

Citizen Kane,

On a "dream" system like that you should be running 64bit! :)

George

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Citizen Kane (ck-citizenkane) said : 		#5

Hey all,
Thanks for the replies! :)
I was wondering if there was a technical reason for that statement, so I'll just leave this open and see if someone from development gives a reply tomorrow.

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Citizen Kane (ck-citizenkane) said : 		#6

George Standish and all that replied,
Thanks very much for our input. :)

I've let this string go on in the hoes of getting an official explanation but apparently that will not be forthcoming, ..
So, I will assume that the advice offered by George and others saying that all things should work fine as long as 32bit libs are installed is correct and that the warning is to alert downloaders that ther are not many 64bit programs available for daily use.
Microsofts 64bit Win7 has a built-in virtual machine to run 32bit programs in the Programs(x86) directory and a compatibility wizard to recognize program installations.
As George suggested, a similar approach could be done manually on Ubuntu64 with great care and no wizard.
I will end this conversation with the approach that 'This solved my problem', and thanks again to all.
Best regards,
CK

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Citizen Kane (ck-citizenkane) said : 		#7

Thanks George Standish, that solved my question.