Gaming 32 or 64 bit Windows 7 on Bootcamp?

[R2DJ]

Hi. I've got a Macbook Pro bought in 2010, and I was wondering if I should install a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7 on it. Here are the applications that I will use primarily:

Applications with 64-bit version:
- Microsoft Project 2010
- Autodesk 3DS max
- Microsoft Office

Applications I'm not so sure about having 64-bit:
- UDK
- Visual Studio 2010
- Netbeans
- Eclipse
- A better browser (Firefox/Chrome)

There are other more, but these are the most important ones. Which version of OS should I install? FYI, the processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo, which supports 64-bit software, but is it ideal to run 32-bit software on 64-bit machine? I've researched about Netbeans and it is said that it will not work with a 64-bit JRE, but there is a workaround which will allow Netbeans to use it.

Also, will wiping out my Mac OS Lion every once in a while actually help? Is it necessary for Mac OS to be maintained regularly? I plan to re-format the HDD then setup the OSes again.

Thanks

 

[Rydian]

You can use 32-bit software on 64-bit windows just fine. No performance drawback, but then again it's not like something like 64-bit firefox would be noticeably faster versus 32-bit anyways. And yeah you can install 32-bit JRE/Java stuff alongside 64-bit.

As far as maintenance not that much needs to be done, OSX devs seem to be better about not poking around places they shouldn't, unlike windows devs.

 

[geoGolem]

I have a mid 2010 13" MBP, the same or very similar to yours. I used to use Mac OS X Lion but found it to be bothersome in some special cases, especially when trying to install Windows 7 under bootcamp... I reverted back to Snow Leopard and have been happy with it since. I use Windows 7 x64 Professional. You might as well use the 64-bit version of the OS if you have it. Just because you install a 64-bit OS doesnt mean you need to use 64-bit software. Nowadays I would try to use 64-bit whenever available.

I'm also the kind of person who loves Beta testing and usually makes sure I have the most up to date versions of everything. Mac OS X Lion just gave me too many issues. I noticed Snow Leopard also performs much better than Lion on my machine...

 

[SifJar]

I have 64 bit Windows 7 on my laptop, and I have yet to encounter any situation where there has not been a 64 bit version of any program I wanted and the 32 bit version didn't work. In reality, you are unlikely to really notice a huge difference between the two, as far as I can tell there's no real noticeable difference in performance or anything.

 

[Advi]

64-bit Windows 7 features native compatibility with most 32-bit programs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WoW64

 

[Luigi2012SM64DS]

i thought that since 64 bit is an extension of 32 it would work with ALL 32 bit software

 

[SifJar]

i thought that since 64 bit is an extension of 32 it would work with ALL 32 bit software

Well you were wrong then.

 

[Luigi2012SM64DS]

well then why not dual boot windows 7 and win7 64

 

[Rydian]

i thought that since 64 bit is an extension of 32 it would work with ALL 32 bit software

The processor is not the only thing involved. The OS itself is 64-bit and therefore not the same as 32-bit, so things that expect to fuck around with a 32-bit OS's parts (like an antivirus, firewall, stuff like that) needs a 64-bit version to touch 64-it windows internal parts.

Also drivers.

---

 

[Advi]

i thought that since 64 bit is an extension of 32 it would work with ALL 32 bit software

64-bit x86 processors are an extension to their 32-bit counterparts; just like the 32-bit x86 processors are an extension to the original 16-bit models. The "bits" of a processor architecture are a specific quality, not a quantity that implies backwards-compatibility.

 

[R2DJ]

Thanks for the replies. I also asked my friend who is a Mac fanatic and he told me that 64-bit is the definite way to go. The responses have helped. Thanks a lot!

One more thing: the MBP has a 250GB hard drive. How much GB's should I set aside for Bootcamp, taking into account that all software mentioned in my OP will be installed? Right now, I got about 92GB free space but I'll be able to free some space, as most of them are photos.

 

[Jamstruth]

If you've got a 64-bit Processor (everybody does) and the ability to go over 4GB of RAM (or already do) go with 64-bit. As I'm pretty sure AutoDesk is pretty big you'll probably want at least a 50+GB partition. 10-15GB or so will be taken up by Windows itself.

Also, I'm pretty sure that all 64-bit processor can process 32-bit programs because the only difference is the register size. I suppose there might be different Assembly Code instructions to the CPU that would need to be tweaked by Windows.

 

[JustChillin1414]

Thanks for the replies. I also asked my friend who is a Mac fanatic and he told me that 64-bit is the definite way to go. The responses have helped. Thanks a lot!

One more thing: the MBP has a 250GB hard drive. How much GB's should I set aside for Bootcamp, taking into account that all software mentioned in my OP will be installed? Right now, I got about 92GB free space but I'll be able to free some space, as most of them are photos.

My windows partiton is 45GB, I'd recommend at least 30+ (I had to remake my windows partiton because I ran out of space). A word of warning, you may have to backup your drive, format, and restore. I'd recommend Super Duper for this (make a bootable backup). All the bootcamp partition's I've made have required this because of too much fragmentation on the drive. Four macs in total. So give it a try, if it can't create the partition, you know what to do.