Vista 64 and Office

[Pete]

I like the thought of a new 64 bit OS system for the speed.
I am thinking about buying a whole new setup! Does MS Office run 64 bit? If
only 32 bit, does the 64 bit OS speed it up?
-Pete

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

A 64-bit operating system will generally run faster if
it is used with 64-bit programs. Microsoft Office
is offered in 32-bit versions only and runs quite
fast on a conventional 32-bit version of Vista.
If you install Microsoft Office on a 64-bit version
of Vista, it will not run any faster when compared
to a 32-bit version of Vista.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows System & Performance

---------------------------------------------------------------

:

I like the thought of a new 64 bit OS system for the speed.
I am thinking about buying a whole new setup! Does MS Office run 64 bit? If
only 32 bit, does the 64 bit OS speed it up?
-Pete

 

[Pete]

A 64-bit operating system will generally run faster if
it is used with 64-bit programs. Microsoft Office
is offered in 32-bit versions only and runs quite
fast on a conventional 32-bit version of Vista.
If you install Microsoft Office on a 64-bit version
of Vista, it will not run any faster when compared
to a 32-bit version of Vista.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows System & Performance

---------------------------------------------------------------

:

I like the thought of a new 64 bit OS system for the speed.
I am thinking about buying a whole new setup! Does MS Office run 64 bit?
If
only 32 bit, does the 64 bit OS speed it up?
-Pete

64 bit seems pointless. The major apps don't use it yet.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I like the thought of a new 64 bit OS system for the speed.
I am thinking about buying a whole new setup! Does MS Office run 64 bit? If
only 32 bit, does the 64 bit OS speed it up?

There is only a 32-version of Microsoft Office, not 64-bit. In fact,
there is still comparatively little 64-bit software available yet.

If you run 32-bit software on a 64-bit operating system, it runs
hardly any faster than the same software on a 32-bit operating system.
Real performance advantages come about only when both the operating
system and applications are 64-bit.

So for the moment, most people will see little or no advantage to
running 64-bit Vista. However, if you're getting a new computer, I
think you *should* get a 64-bit processor and 64-bit Vista. That gets
you ready to reap the advantages of 64-bit applications as they become
available.

The only thing to be concerned with is making sure that there are
64-bit drivers available for any older peripherals (printers,
scanners, etc.) that you want to keep and use with the new computer.

 

[Chris]

64 bit seems pointless. The major apps don't use it yet.

Lots of major apps do, maybe just not the ones you use. 64-bit is more
suited for memory or CPU intensive applications like AutoCAD (which is
offered for 64-bit).

It is somewhat pointless for office applications & email programs. It
does allow the system to use lots of RAM though .

-Chris

 

[Kerry Brown]

I like the thought of a new 64 bit OS system for the speed.
I am thinking about buying a whole new setup! Does MS Office run 64 bit?
If only 32 bit, does the 64 bit OS speed it up?
-Pete

The major advantage of a 64 bit OS is the ability to use more than 3.5 GB of
RAM. Office is only 32 bit but you can still take advantage of a 64 bit OS.
If you have many programs open at the same time more RAM (and Vista x64)
makes this much faster. With Vista x64 I can be running a video, several
virtual machines for testing, and still use Word. On Vista x86 on the same
computer running the same programs causes Word to be so slow it's unusable.
It all depends what you do with your computer.