Bill in Co wrote:


Thanks. Definitely something to keep track of. I'm thinking those 32 GB
SSD laptops must not have a ton of room left over,too.

OK, I just looked this up, and one site says for system requirements 16 GB
for 32 bit, 20 GB for 64 bit. I didn't even know there was a 32 bit option
for Windows 10, but I guess that was for folks doing upgrades from an older
32 bit OS, as I can't see any other reason for it, except, perhaps, for
backwards compatibility with some older 32 bit programs. I almost forgot
about that one.

But wow, about 20 GB already used, leaving you only 12 GB for everything
else? Wow. That will be a "little bit" tight if you have any decent
collection of programs.

A 32 bit OS can run 16 bit programs.

That helps if you have a collection of ancient games.

A 64 bit OS helps if the machine happens to have
a lot of RAM. For example, if you had "the cheapest
machine possible", with only 1GB of RAM, then 64 bit
wouldn't be absolutely necessary for that.

But 64 bit is here to stay. You could find that 32 bit
drivers for graphics, new versions aren't being made any
more. Adobe uses only 64 bit for its software.

And some time this year or next, traditional BIOS may
disappear, so only UEFI boot is offered in new hardware.
That's the way Intel wants it for some reason. I don't
see a reason for Intel to care one way or another. I'm glad
the box I've got here supports UEFI+CSM (where CSM is the
compatibility module for legacy BIOS booting purposes)

Paul