I'm trying to figure out whether I need to go with the 64-bit version of Windows 7. I'd rather not, unless there's a big benefit, because even one or two missing 64-bit drivers or one app that doesn't work quite right wold be a lot of work.
The biggest reason to go with the 64-bit Windows 7 that I can see, is that it allows the use of more RAM. But I never max out my RAM now (despite simultaneously burning CDs, testing software in Virtual PC, with Windows 7, no less, and editing a document in Microsoft Word).
Since Windows 7 has a minimum RAM of 1 GB, (compared to something like 64 MB for XP) that suggests that Windows 7 uses a lot more RAM. So, how much more RAM does Windows 7 use than Windows XP?
Best Answer
Do you have more than 2GB of RAM?
Yes? Then stop caring!
XP and 7 use RAM in different ways. Right now on my Vista box (Which has a lot in common with 7), I'm idling at 54% used RAM. That leaves me with under a GB! That's not enough left to, say, play Crysis. So let's turn my page file off. Very little change. Let's go play crysis anyway.
Ran great, and now I'm idling at 30% RAM. Vista and 7 cache in your RAM, because it's about 40 times faster than most hard drives (not SSDs though, it's still a lot faster, but not as much), so it makes a lot of sense to use it to speed up your PC.
If you have less than 2GB of RAM, stick with XP. Vista and 7 are much, much faster than XP if you give them modern hardware.
As for the minimum, XP never really ran well on 64mb of ram, and win7 can run on much less than 1gb. Seems like MS have changed their mind about how they want their OS to be seen. Back when XP existed, fewer people had PCs, and there was almost no widespread internet, so they could (basically) lie on the packaging and nobody would mention it. Now they've put a reasonable figure that will allow Win7 to run as designed (caching and all).