I have an AMD dualcore processor that is currently running the 64-bit version of Windows 7. The only things this computer does are run XBMC and serve as a backup file server for my mac. Windows is too heavy, unreliable, and unpredictable to me, so I’m migrating to Linux.
I am realisitic about how far Linux development has come, however, and there may be some legacy issues involved with installing 32-bit software on a 64-bit operating system.
Opinions? I’m going to be a severe Linux newbie, and don’t want to dive too deep into modding my system. I simply want what works best with the least effort.
64-bit Ubuntu used to suck terribly, about two years ago. But I’ve been using it for a year now, and on the whole it’s been very stable. If you can run it, I’d recommend it. I don’t know how other distros are doing, though.
I’m a bit split on this issue. While it does make more sense to install a 64bit OS on 64Bit Hardware, I ran into some issues with my Last install of Ubuntu 9.10 when I Installed the 64Bit edition and had to reinstall the 32Bit version to fix them.
If your comfortable with perhaps having to drop into Terminal to fix any issues, then go on Ahead and install the 64 bit version.
If it’s true that “the only things this computer does are run XBMC and serve as a backup file server for my mac,” than wouldn’t extra RAM be superfluous?
I may decide to rip DVDs to my computer at some point in the future, which I understand is a somewhat intensive process, so I don’t think the extra RAM and CPU boost from 64-bit software is superfluous. Anyway, thanks, y’all. 64-bit it is.
I’m running the 64-bits version of the latest Ubuntu on an Intel i7 system with 6GB of memory. The only things which did not quite work out-of-the-box was the Flash plug-in for Firefox, and the CPU temperature monitor applet. But a quick Google gave me the magic incantations needed to resolve those two minor issues, and after that everything worked flawlessly.
How much RAM do you have on the server? If it’s <= 4GB then go with the 32-bit install. The only real advantage of a 64-bit OS is the ability to access more than 4GB of RAM so it’ll be wasted if you have less. 64-bit programs also use up more memory (to store the pointers) so the usability of your RAM will go down unless you have ~ 6GB RAM.
I’d say install the 64 bit version, but mainly just because once you add more RAM, or move the drive to a new machine, you can use the same installed OS to make use of it instead of “having” to start over. In any case, unless you’ve got a small amount of RAM (less than 1Gb or so), there’s probably not going to any noticeable downside to use the 64 bit version.
Be aware that Hulu does not work with the 64-bit Linux flash plugin, only the 32-bit. So if you run 64-bit Linux you have to either run a 32-bit browser or use nspluginwrapper.
It depends on what you’re doing. Java’s 64-bit JVM uses almost twice as much RAM as its 32-bit JVM (at least on Linux) so using a 64-bit OS on 4GB RAM will effectively cut your RAM in half. (The latest JVM has a VM arg that attempts to use smaller pointers but most people don’t know about it or have an older JVM.) There’s no reason to use a 64-bit OS unless one will (eventually) have at least 5GB of RAM.