32-bit Office vs. 64-bit Office

[Turbonium]

What's the difference, practically speaking? I'm assuming the 64-bit version runs a bit faster, but is it noticeable?

The reason I ask is that I recently installed the 32-bit version of Office 2010 on my dad's new PC (it's the only legitimate copy I had access to), and I'm wondering if it comes with any particular disadvantages when compared to its 64-bit alternative.

[seepy83]

You actually might find, as of right now, that the opposite is true...that the 64-bit version has some disadvantages when compared to 32-bit.

I can't speak for speed or performance, but we're talking about Office applications here...and they aren't terribly demanding of memory resources.

But as far as compatibility is concerned, if you're trying to use any 3rd party add-ins, you'll find that most of them are only compatible with the 32-bit version.

I don't recall the exact text, but the 64-bit installer actually throws up a warning before installation saying something along the lines of "Are you sure you want to install 64-bit office? Because it's really new and not compatible with a lot of stuff, and we really recommend you install 32-bit unless you require 64-bit for some reason."

[theevilsharpie]

Originally Posted by Turbonium

What's the difference, practically speaking? I'm assuming the 64-bit version runs a bit faster, but is it noticeable?

The 64-bit version of Office can open files larger than 2GB.

[postmortemIA]

Originally Posted by theevilsharpie

The 64-bit version of Office can open files larger than 2GB.

But it cannot use any 32-bit extensions, as 64-bit binaries must use exclusively 64-bit DLLs.

[cl-scott]

Basically unless you have some truly massive Excel spreadsheets or especially large Access databases, there is no real benefit to a 64-bit version of Office. Probably very little in the way of drawbacks as well, unless you use third party extensions.

[Chiefcrowe]

I've had one problem with an addon not working right, so I decided to go with 32bit.

[xSauronx]

64 bit may not be supported by add ons or plugins or, if youre in an enterprise environment, all of your software (even other ms software, depending on the update level of other apps)

my uni wont even support the 64 bit version for students.

[kleinkinstein]

Originally Posted by theevilsharpie

The 64-bit version of Office can open files larger than 2GB.

Seriously? Either way, that's funny!

[postmortemIA]

Originally Posted by kleinkinstein

Seriously? Either way, that's funny!

2003 and older Excel had limitation of 65536 rows and 256 columns ...

[ImDonly1]

Originally Posted by Turbonium

What's the difference, practically speaking? I'm assuming the 64-bit version runs a bit faster, but is it noticeable?

The reason I ask is that I recently installed the 32-bit version of Office 2010 on my dad's new PC (it's the only legitimate copy I had access to), and I'm wondering if it comes with any particular disadvantages when compared to its 64-bit alternative.

Valid question. I thought the same thing when installing the new office.

Even microsoft on their office website states you should install 32-bit office, unless you know what you are doing and are sure you need 64-bit office. This is mostly because of the plugin support for 64-bit office.

Stay with the 32-bit, you installed the right version.

[GrumpyMan]

We tried 64bit Excel at the office but had to go with 32bit due to ASAP utilities not working with it. It's a collection of 300 macros for Excel which we use extensively everyday. Even MS recommends going to 32bit unless of course working with huge databases.