I have turion 64X2 should I get 64bit or 32 bit?..and hard drive question

[woms14]

Hi,

I have the capabilities of running the 64bit software. I run the 32bit on my desktop, I want to install it on my notebook, which version would you recommend. Also, I'm going to be installing it on a usb external hard drive, is there anyway to access the windows hard drive from suse running of the external? Thanks

[oz]

Here's an article that might help you to decide:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...bit-linux.html

[smolloy]

I find that article a little too negative on running 64 bit (with all due respect to techiemoe!). I run 64 bit linux at home (laptop and desktop) and at work, with no real problems. As mentioned in techiemoe's article, installing java plugins (amongst other things) can be a little problematic on 64 bit, but the situation has improved a lot lately. I installed the 32 bit flash plugin on 64 bit firefox a couple of days ago, and I only have to type 6 commands (including the use of wget to d/load the necessary files).

Techiemoe makes the point that if you don't need the things that 64 bit offers (such as more available memory), then there is no real point in installing it. I agree with this point, but I think his conclusions are a little more negative than they need to be. It also seems deeply wrong (to me) to hamper a 64 bit machine by installing a 32 bit OS on it!!

On your second question -- yes, you should be able to access all drives from your suse installation. Be aware that an OS running from a usb drive will be noticeably slower than one running from an internal drive due to the lower access speeds.

[techieMoe]

I find that article a little too negative on running 64 bit (with all due respect to techiemoe!).

Me? Too negative? Surely you jest.

Techiemoe makes the point that if you don't need the things that 64 bit offers (such as more available memory), then there is no real point in installing it. I agree with this point, but I think his conclusions are a little more negative than they need to be. It also seems deeply wrong (to me) to hamper a 64 bit machine by installing a 32 bit OS on it!!

You're of course welcome to that opinion. I'm just curious how running a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit machine hampers it in any practical way. Do you have something you've noticed that I could add to my article as a bit more positive side?

[smolloy]

OK, you got me. "Hamper" is a little too strong. The point I was trying to make is that it seems wrong to me to "reduce" a 64 bit processor by limiting it to 32 bit. I kinda feel that I'd be wasting the extra cash I paid for a 64 bit processor by installing software that makes it behave identically to its (cheaper) 32 bit cousin.

Of course, as you say, the benefits of 64 bit tech might not be noticed by some users, and for those users (as I said) there's no point in installing it. They won't notice the difference, but might get a migraine trying to install firefox flash plugins (for example).

This is where I think your article might be a little negative. Installing flash, java, etc., is undeniably harder for 64 bit distros, but I don't think it's as hard as it sounds from your write up. I gave the example of installing 32 bit flash using only six commands -- and I could have reduced that to four by clicking on the links in the article instead of wget'ing them. This is getting to the level of difficulty (or ease) of doing a lot of other things in Linux.

If you were to make any edits, I'd recommend mentioning the changes that have occurred in the interim (such as using nspluginwrapper to help install 32bit plugins on firefox) to make it easier for us 64bit folks. Of course you might not feel it's worth making such a minor change. That's fine as long as you don't mind me chiming in on threads like this with a more positive, sunny, spin than yours!

[techieMoe]

Of course you might not feel it's worth making such a minor change. That's fine as long as you don't mind me chiming in on threads like this with a more positive, sunny, spin than yours!

Not a problem. Keep up the good work.