Help me decide: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 or 64 bits?
Thread poster: Claudia Alvis
Claudia Alvis
Claudia Alvis  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 15:26
Member
Spanish
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Oct 30, 2009

I was going to upgrade my Vista 32-bit system and I realized that I can upgrade to Window 7 64-bit. I was only using 3GB of RAM but if I upgrade to Win7 64-bit, I could expand my system to 4GB, which would be very nice. But I don't know how much it would affect my computer's compatibility with other software.

I have MS-Office 2003 and the typical translation software: a bunch of electronic dictionaries: (Oxford, Routledge Technical, etc.), TO3000, SDL Trados Studio, Visual Localize,
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I was going to upgrade my Vista 32-bit system and I realized that I can upgrade to Window 7 64-bit. I was only using 3GB of RAM but if I upgrade to Win7 64-bit, I could expand my system to 4GB, which would be very nice. But I don't know how much it would affect my computer's compatibility with other software.

I have MS-Office 2003 and the typical translation software: a bunch of electronic dictionaries: (Oxford, Routledge Technical, etc.), TO3000, SDL Trados Studio, Visual Localize, etc.

Has anybody upgraded to Window 7 64-bit yet? Are there any compatibility problems?
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Subhankar Chakrabarty
Subhankar Chakrabarty  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 01:56
Member (2009)
English to Bengali
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I prefer 64 bits Oct 30, 2009

I prefer 64 bits application over 32 bits windows. Your system will deliver greatly in 64 bit mode. Though I am not sure about the compatibility of SDL Trados and likewise. You should check them and be sure before proceeding.
All the best.


 
Patricia Rosas
Patricia Rosas  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:26
Spanish to English
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In memoriam
I like the 64-bit system Oct 30, 2009

Hi, Claudia,

Exactly 1 week ago, my 3-month old laptop collapsed on me. I rushed out and bought a new one, and the only thing available were systems running Windows 7. I didn't pay any attention to the question of 32- versus 64-bits, and so I came home with a 64-bit machine.

At first, I seemed to have multiple problems, but gradually every thing (or almost) has been resolved. For the most part, I like Win 7, but just quickly here are some pros and cons imho:

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Hi, Claudia,

Exactly 1 week ago, my 3-month old laptop collapsed on me. I rushed out and bought a new one, and the only thing available were systems running Windows 7. I didn't pay any attention to the question of 32- versus 64-bits, and so I came home with a 64-bit machine.

At first, I seemed to have multiple problems, but gradually every thing (or almost) has been resolved. For the most part, I like Win 7, but just quickly here are some pros and cons imho:

1. I am running DNS 10 after downloading an upgrade for Win 7. Yesterday, I began getting a run-time error, but I also noticed that even though I'd set my Blue Tooth as the default microphone, the software was also hearing me through the laptop's speakers. I couldn't get that to stop, so finally I disabled the Bluetooth. Since doing that, I haven't gotten any more errors and DNS seems to hear me just fine.

2. I was also able to install and use a Word Magic dictionary plug-in.

3. I wanted to buy Cepstral voices (which I use to have text read to me), but Windows 2007 disable its text-to-speech tool. I have some Visual Basic code that worked on my old laptop, but when I try to install it on the new machine, I can't get it to run (the macros are all disabled, but even when I enable them, it doesn't work). Plus, I learned that Cepstral hasn't created a Win 7 compatible version yet. So, I'm using DNS to read text back to me.

4. Initially, I had a huge issue since all my Word 2003 files were corrupted. I thought I couldn't open them (dummy me), but then I realized that if I right-clicked, an "open" option appears in a menu, with choices of which software to use. At first, there was only .pdf or Word Pad. I opened the files in Word Pad and saved them as Word 2007. Today--now go figure!--there was a Word option, and I can open corrupted files directly with that and save them.

5. This system is incredibly faster than my XP desk top (bought in 2006) and certainly somewhat faster than the Vista laptop. This morning I learned that I can return this machine, but I like it too well to do that. So, I will keep the Vista laptop (they couldn't revive the one that died, so I'm getting an entirely new machine) and give it to my daughter at Xmas.

Hope others will respond--I'm not very "techie" so I'm not always certain that my advice is sound LOL!

Patricia
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XX789 (X)
XX789 (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 21:26
English to Dutch
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Only interesting if... Oct 30, 2009

64-bit operating systems are only faster than 32-bit operating systems if your applications have been specifically tailored to 64-bit operating systems. For the vast majority of translation applications this is not the case.

So don't spend too much extra money on it.

Now if you use very resource-intensive applications like Photoshop and the like, you will notice a speed difference of +/- 8 to 12%. Not too shocking, as you can see.

[Edited at 2009-10-30 18:30 G
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64-bit operating systems are only faster than 32-bit operating systems if your applications have been specifically tailored to 64-bit operating systems. For the vast majority of translation applications this is not the case.

So don't spend too much extra money on it.

Now if you use very resource-intensive applications like Photoshop and the like, you will notice a speed difference of +/- 8 to 12%. Not too shocking, as you can see.

[Edited at 2009-10-30 18:30 GMT]
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Claudia Alvis
Claudia Alvis  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 15:26
Member
Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Oct 30, 2009

Thank you everyone for your opinions. I installed the 64-bit version based on this thread; it didn't cost me anything extra since it came in the box and now it's activated. The installation was VERY fast, I loved that!, I can't wait to add the extra RAM. I'll also keep coming to this thread for more information (thanks Patricia).

Claudia


 
Patricia Rosas
Patricia Rosas  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
In memoriam
please keep us posted ... Oct 30, 2009

Claudia,

Hope everything runs smoothly. Have a nice weekend.

Patricia


 
Claudia Alvis
Claudia Alvis  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 15:26
Member
Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER
Update Nov 19, 2009

I've been using Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for a few weeks now and I don't really see a major problem (and Windows 7 owns Vista). There are only a few programs that won't run in Win7, like really old 16-bit programs, although I'm thinking of installing a virtual OS just to run those programs. The rest of the programs have or will have updates for Win7.

About DNS, the is indeed a update that can be downloaded, but not all languages are available. I had to pay $10 to receive a DVD
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I've been using Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for a few weeks now and I don't really see a major problem (and Windows 7 owns Vista). There are only a few programs that won't run in Win7, like really old 16-bit programs, although I'm thinking of installing a virtual OS just to run those programs. The rest of the programs have or will have updates for Win7.

About DNS, the is indeed a update that can be downloaded, but not all languages are available. I had to pay $10 to receive a DVD with the update for the Spanish edition of DNS. But it's working perfectly.

Overall, 64-bit was the best choice. Thanks to everyone for your help.

Claudia
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Elinor Thomas
Elinor Thomas  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:26
English to Spanish
+ ...
is Win 7 64 bits compatible with Trados 2007? Dec 11, 2009

Hi,
I am thinking of installing Windows 7 64 bits with Office 2003, but before doing so I would like to know if this version of Win 7 is compatible with SDL Trados 2007. Does anyone know or made already the experience?

Thank you guys!

Elinor


 
LEXpert
LEXpert  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:26
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
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32 bit systems limited to using under 4 GB RAM Dec 13, 2009

Only 64-bit systems can utilize more than 4 GB of of RAM. So, if you do not have more than 4 GB now, and decided to upgrade your RAM in the future, any RAM upgrades to more than 4 GB will yield no benefit on a 32-bit system, because the OS cannot "see" the extra RAM. Just one thing to consider.

Re. SDL Trados FL 2007 - I am shopping for a new computer and facing your same dilemma myself. No personal experience yet, but I've that heard that people have managed to get it to run on a 6
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Only 64-bit systems can utilize more than 4 GB of of RAM. So, if you do not have more than 4 GB now, and decided to upgrade your RAM in the future, any RAM upgrades to more than 4 GB will yield no benefit on a 32-bit system, because the OS cannot "see" the extra RAM. Just one thing to consider.

Re. SDL Trados FL 2007 - I am shopping for a new computer and facing your same dilemma myself. No personal experience yet, but I've that heard that people have managed to get it to run on a 64-bit OS, the real problem lying in the installer file and not in the software itself (as most 32-bit programs just run in 32-bit mode on the 64-bit OS). However, MT is apparently not (fully) compatible with 64-bit, even if you can get Trados itself to run. So they say...
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Tomas Mosler, DipTrans IoLET MCIL MITI
Tomas Mosler, DipTrans IoLET MCIL MITI  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 21:26
Member (2008)
English to Czech
SITE LOCALIZER
yes Jan 3, 2010

I am thinking of installing Windows 7 64 bits with Office 2003, but before doing so I would like to know if this version of Win 7 is compatible with SDL Trados 2007. Does anyone know or made already the experience?


So far I'm using Win 7 64-bit and Trados 2007 (and Office 2007) without any problems (I have not tried every single function though, mostly just translating in TE). The only exception is the 863 patch which, if I installed all elements, made the Office spellcheck defunct (maybe the MS Interop Assemblies). Without the patch, Synergy doesn't work for me (I personally don't mind that). However I think trying to install only the Synergy patch subfile (what the patch installation extracts to an installation folder and then installs one by one) could solve this problem.


 


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Help me decide: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 or 64 bits?






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