How to find out how many bit system is? Find out the bitness (x86 or x64) in different families of systems How to find out the bitness of the mac os x system

When Steve Jobs spoke about new system Mac OS X 10.5, the first thing he noted was not such spectacular "features" as Spaces or Time machine but ... full 64-bit support. For most Mac users, who are accustomed to evaluating all the new Apple products, first of all, by appearance(how many copies were broken about the case of the Power Mac G5 computers and the rest!), these words of Steve Jobs, not supported by a visual demonstration, did not make any strong impression. Of course, not every user will notice the effect of switching to full 64-bit, but in the meantime, it's worth paying attention to.

What is it eaten with

If you are writing an application that requires a really huge amount of free random access memory(more than 4GB), or which works with bulky files larger than 2GB (for example, when editing video), then it is much more convenient and efficient for you to work with 64-bit data than thinning it into 32-bit chunks, as is done in the current Mac and Windows applications. Apple has been offering developers several ways to work with 64-bit data for several years, but the latter should not forget that Mac OS and most hardware runs in a 32-bit environment.

What is the main advantage of the 64-bit platform over the 32-bit platform that is ubiquitous today? Strictly speaking - in scale. Without going into details, let's say that now users are able to allocate much more RAM to their program, and working with large files will be more efficient.

One cannot fail to note the progress that the company has shown in recent years. With the move to PowerPC G5 processors, Mac developers for the first time received full support for 64-bit instructions at the processor level, and the advent of Mac OS X 10.4 allowed them to create 64-bit applications. Of course, there were some restrictions, so it turned out to be impossible to equip these applications with a graphical interface.

What changed

With the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, developers will be able to create full-featured production applications. However, those of them who only want to convert old applications to new platform, will face certain nuances - you will have to change and recompile not only source the program itself, but also every library, every environment, and every plugin.

Even then, the reasons for moving to 64-bit will not be obvious to everyone. First, 64-bit applications will only work on the G5 and Core 2 Duo processors - all other systems (based on the G3, G4, Core Duo and Core Solo) are left out.

Second, some 64-bit programs can be slower in practice than their 32-bit counterparts. The main catch is that switching to 64-bit will result in more cumbersome code. As a result, a smaller part of it will fit in the caches of the first and second levels of the processor, slower memory accesses, etc.

Who won

Full 64-bit support will be most appreciated by developers specialized software, which is designed to work with large amounts of data - scientific and computing applications, database management systems, modeling programs, CAD / CAM applications, graphic editors.

Conclusion

Soon 32-bit computing will remain in the distant past: current trends clearly show that in the future, progress will go to increase the bit depth. Today we are on the verge of another big step, and Apple is already taking it, moving its computers and system to a new platform.

If we speak in the short term, while this feature of the system will be in demand only by an extremely narrow circle of users and developers. For most Mac users - even graphics and video professionals - this is just an interesting perspective rather than the current reality.

Today, users are increasingly faced with the concept that determines the bitness of the system. Everyone knows that the same "operating systems" Windows are designated as versions of 32 or 64 bits. Sometimes this designation can be expressed as abbreviations such as x86 and x64. What it is, and how to find out how many bit systems are installed on a stationary terminal or laptop, we will now see.

Key differences between x86 and x64 systems

Before proceeding with the question of how to find out how many bit systems are installed on a computer terminal or laptop, let's see what are the differences between the most common architectures.

The very first and foremost thing is that systems with 32-bit architecture do not support operation with "RAM" strips of more than 4 GB and do not run applications designed for more than 3 GB of "RAM" in the process.

For this, 64-bit systems were created, in which support for RAM is practically unlimited in volume. To date, the largest value is considered to be 192 GB, although in the future this is not the limit. But back to the question of determining the bitness of any OS.

How to find out how many bit system is on Windows?

First, let's look at the Windows operating systems. To access such a parameter in "Vista", "seven" or "eight", you can use the standard Control Panel, in which the "System" menu is selected, and then the "System Type" line is viewed.

If you figure out how to find out how many bit systems are on XP, you can use the right click on the "My Computer" icon and then select properties. In the window that opens, all data about the bit capacity of the installed "operating system" will be shown (of course, along with all other basic parameters).

By the way, this method is also suitable for Vista, 7, 8 and 10. It is standard and kind of unified.

System bitness parameters on Macs

Now let's see how to find out how many bit systems are installed on the corresponding terminal in the case of using Mac OS X.

To do this, you need to apply almost the same algorithm as in Windows, however, the path will be longer. Click on the logo at the top left of the screen and select the "About this computer" option. Then you will have to go step by step through the sections "More", then " Software", And then in the browse menu, find the 64-bit kernel and extensions parameter. If the opposite is “Yes”, the system has a 64-bit architecture, “No” - 32 bits.

System bitness in Linux

The problematic question is how to find out how many bit Linux system available to the user, in this case can be solved only in a command way using the so-called terminal (UNIX-like systems, including "apple operating systems").

It all comes down to just using the uname -a command in the terminal field, after which you should pay attention to the system recall. If a message appears on the screen containing the value x86_64, this indicates that there is a 64-bit operating system installed. When you answer with the value i686, as already clear, you can determine that the system has a 32-bit architecture.

Outcome

As you can see, nothing is complicated in the above solutions to the issue of determining the bitness operating system actually, no. Another thing is that in most cases, users use Windows of different modifications. The most simple option is to use the properties of the computer.

Some users could not install iTunes and asked in emails - Why won't iTunes install? For other users, iTunes was installed on the computer, but for some reason, it did not start in any way. One of the reasons for the appearance of such problems may be the discrepancy between the version of iTunes and the bitness of the computer's operating system.

Users of the Mac OS X operating system may not read further, but Windows owners should be aware that Windows operating systems are 64-bit and 32-bit (64 bit and 32 bit). Therefore, you need to download iTunes corresponding to the bitness of the PC OS. In the first part of the material, I propose to learn how to determine the bitness of your computer operating system and find out whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit. And in the second part, we will learn how to choose the one that is suitable for the iTunes operating system.

Bit Windows 7
Today, many people use Windows 7 in their computers, to determine the bit depth we do the following:

1. Press the "Start" button in the lower left corner and enter the word in the search box - Systema... You will see this very System in the search results above, click it. If it does not work, then you can alternatively press right click mouse on the My Computer icon and select Properties.

2. As a result, a window for viewing basic information about the computer should appear, where in the System section you can look at the System type and see the bitness of Windows 7. In the example above, we see a 64-bit operating system. If you have 32-bit, then instead of 64, the computer will display - 32.

Bit Windows XP
With XP, everything is about the same, but there are some peculiarities.

You can, as in the case of the 7th, right-click on the My Computer icon and select System Information Properties in the General tab. If there are no digits of bit depth, but simply written Windows XP, it means that the system is 32-bit. In 64-bit versions of XP, there is a number - 64.

1. Additionally, you can check the bitness of XP like this: Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Information.

There is one more, shorter way: Start - Run - enter in English letters winmsd.exe and click OK.

2. A window opens with information about the system, look at the Processor graph, if it starts with X86 means the operating system is 32-bit. In the case of a 64-bit version of the OS, the Processor section will start with the inscription IA-64, or other abbreviations containing the number 64.

It seems that we figured out the bitness (bitness) of operating systems, now you need to download the appropriate iTunes for your OS. By default, the 32-bit version is available for download on the iTunes download page on Apple's website as it is more common among users. To download 64-bit iTunes, you can go to the page search engine Google and using query - iTunes 64, find the 64-bit version.

ITunes installation file for 32-bit systems looks like this - iTunesSetup.exe
ITunes installation file for 64-bit systems looks like this - iTunes64Setup.exe

We hope that now you will be able to install iTunes for any operating system. Users of the Mac OS X operating system install iTunes for Mac, as far as I know you have no problems with the bit depth.

System bitness, speaking in Russian, this is what processor your operating system is sharpened for. If it was made for 32-bit processors (x86), then it will operate with less RAM and, accordingly, work slower. An example of a classic 32-bit system: Windows XP.

How to find out the bitness of the system?

To learn bitness your operating system online, follow the instructions above. In a nutshell, you just need to go to this page and see the result of the definition. However, here the definition is done in Javascript, i.e. only limited data from your browser is analyzed. Therefore, there is a small chance of an inaccurate definition. This rarely happens, but it does happen. For example, some Firefox flavors are 32-bit applications running in a 64-bit environment. Based on this, we recommend that you additionally check the bitness of your system using another one of our

Before installing a driver or program, be sure to know which bit operating Windows system installed on your computer: 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64). Windows x86 or 32-bit systems support no more than 4 GB of RAM, while 64-bit systems support more than 4 GB. For example, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit supports up to 16 GB of RAM. More advanced editions of Windows like Professional and Ultimate support up to 192GB of RAM! To determine which Windows version installed on your computer, do the following.

Bit Windows 8

There are 2 ways to determine bitness Windows 8. If one method doesn't work, try another.

Method 1: View the System Window of the Control Panel

1. Enter "System" in the search box and then tap or click Options.
2. Click the System icon.
3. If a 64-bit version of Windows 8 is installed, this will be indicated in the System Type field in the System section. And if you have a 32-bit version of Windows 8, it will say: 32-bit operating system.

Method 2: Open the system information window

1. Move your cursor near the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. Or, if you are using a mouse, move the pointer to the lower-right corner of the screen and click Find.
2. Enter "system information" in the search box.
3. Click on "System" and then click on the "System Information" button.
4. The box under the heading of the item will say System Type Windows 8 64-bit. Or, under System Type, it will say Windows 8 32-bit.

Bit Windows 7

In the window that opens, find the System type item

Bit depth Windows Vista

• Windows x64 - in the System Type item it will be indicated: "64-bit operating system"
• Windows x86 - the System Type item will indicate: "32-bit operating system"

Bit Windows XP

Note that the overwhelming majority use a 32-bit operating system.

Method 1

In the window that opens, find the System item

• if you are using a 64-bit version of the operating system, the System item will indicate: Microsoft Windows XP version x64
• if you are using a 32-bit version of the operating system, the System item will indicate: Microsoft Windows XP version x32

Method 2

1. Click "Start"
2. Select "Run"
3. Enter the command "CMD" in the window that appears, i.e. call command line
4. Enter the command "winver"
5. Click "Start"
6. Select "All Programs"
7. "Standard"
8. Item "Service"
9. Click on "System Information"

Method 3

Thanks to this method, you will receive complete information about the system. Usually the question arises where it is written about the bitness, and so, if the text "x86 Family" is present, then the system is 32-bit.

Question: Why is it not always possible to see the necessary information in Windows XP (in the first two methods) or is there no "System" item?

Answer: Because Windows XP SP3 (the third fix pack) has a large number of assemblies and the first two options are not relevant in all assemblies, for example, in some assemblies, only the 3rd method of checking the system bitness works.