The End of the Line for 32-Bit Windows

No matter what you think about Windows Vista, it'll be the last desktop OS that runs on 32-bit hardware. Microsoft will release one more 32-bit OS, Windows Server 2008, but you won't be putting that on your laptop. After that, all OS releases will be coded as 64-bit software.

What does that mean? Unless you've got a 64-bit CPU, you probably won't be upgrading that computer beyond what's currently on it. What PC CPUs are 64-bit? AMD's 64-bit line (namely Athlon 64 and Turion 64), and some of Intel's most recent CPUs (Pentium 4 and most Core 2 Duos). Note that not all of these CPUs are 64-bit.

If you have a desktop Intel CPU and want to know if it's 64-bit capable, go to this page, click on your specific model CPU, and click Compare. On the following page, look under the category "Other Intel Technologies": If it's 64-bit, it will include "Intel 64" or "EM64T" in the list.

If you have a laptop Intel CPU, go to this page and click the model you have. If it's 64-bit, it will include "Intel 64" or "EM64T" in the list of "Supported Features."

If your CPU is not on one of these lists at all, it's not 64-bit. 

What's the upshot in all of this? If you're using a PC with a 32-bit OS, you won't be able to upgrade it when (or if) the next version of Windows arrives. (2009 has been thrown around, but who knows when that will really happen.) That's probably not such a bad thing. Would you even want to try to upgrade a five-year-old computer? Considering how badly even some two-year-old hardware runs Vista, I can't fathom what would happen if you put something even further down the line on it.

In other words, nothing to panic about here, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind next time the chatter starts to bubble up about the next version of Windows and whether it will run on your current computer. 

LINK: Windows Server 2008 declared 32-bit's last hurrah