I seem to remember when Win7 was launched there was general agreement that game players were wisest to opt for the 32-bit version.

Is that still the case

Not necessarily. Choosing 32-bit limits you to a much smaller amount of RAM that the operating system can recognize, where 64-bit allows you to have much more RAM.

I'm running 8 GB of RAM right now and it's really made a difference from the 4 GB I initially installed in this computer. I couldn't do that if I only had a 32-bit operating system. Check out our Windows 7 and Games thread for information of 64-bit Windows 7 and gaming stickied at the top of the Glitches forum. For the few games that won't work on 64-bit Windows 7, there are options like Virtual PC.

Thanks, Draclvr. Much appreciated

What about "Home" versus "Pro" ?? Or maybe that's clarified there too ??

I have Windows 7 Home Premium and it's all that I need in an operating system. There are a gazillion blogs and sites that show the comparisons between the different versions. This one is kind of cool because it makes it clear just what you get with Pro vs. Home Premium.

Which Windows 7 is Right For You?

Many people mistakenly think that because the Pro version allows you to download an XP mode, they can play all their games on it. Unfortunately, XP mode in the Pro version does not support 3D and is not good for gaming. It's meant for business applications.

Don't want to be the spoilsport here but I do like to mention that my experience with win7 64 bit is very different. Most older games do not seem to work.
Some time ago I posted about 10 games that I couldn't get running but I don't think those are added to the thread about games that (don't) work.

Since then I've tried a couple more and for me it's clear that old games working on the 64 bit version are the exception.
I have XP mode btw and I actually got a few games to run that wouldn't without it (not 3d games).
Dos games are no problem because dosbox works fine.

If you don't play many older games this is all no issue of course.

It depends on how old the games are. Any older Windows game that contains 16-bit code (as many early Windows games did) won't run on a 64-bit Windows computer unless they're run inside a virtual machine (like Virtual PC, VMware, or VirtualBox). And any game that requires an older version of QuickTime is usually best run inside a virtual machine, if for no other reason than to keep the QuickTime version (which may not be compatible with 64-bit) separate from the main operating system.

There is also the problem of some older games not being compatible with the the drivers for 64-bit audio or video. 32-bit Windows 7 and Vista use different drivers than 64-bit Windows.


Do you remember what those games were? Do you remember if other people able to get them running? If they don't work natively on anyone's 64-bit system, we might make mention of them at the end of Draclvr's Windows 7 and games thread.
Even Inferno's XP site had a ***Sorry Charlie but Forget it / Works in Progress*** page.

Thanks to you, Jenny100 and HandsFree, also !!

Not to hijack this thread I listed them in a new thread.

This is great, HandsFree! I'll check the other thread.