Microsoft is phasing out 32-bit versions of Windows 10

[Shawn Knight]

The big picture: Microsoft is taking the first step in what is likely to be a tedious process to make Windows 10 a 64-bit only product. In the grand scheme of things, this is really just a formality as all of the major desktop CPU makers stopped producing 32-bit processors long ago.

As noted in this document on the matter, beginning with Windows 10 version 2004 (the May 2020 update), Microsoft will no longer supply 32-bit versions of its operating system to OEMs for new builds. That means you’ll soon no longer be able to buy a new PC running a 32-bit version of Windows 10.

Microsoft will instead only supply OEMs with 64-bit builds of its operating system for distribution on new computers.

Notably, this does not impact users that are currently running a 32-bit version of Windows 10 as Microsoft said it remains committed to providing security and feature updates for these devices. What’s more, Microsoft will still make 32-bit versions of the OS available in non-OEM channels to support various upgrade scenarios, we’re told.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 May 2020 update is expected to hit general availability in the coming weeks with a wealth of new features in tow such as better indexing support and the option to download setup files from the cloud, among others.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/85229-microsoft-phasing-out-32-bit-versions-windows-10.html

 

[candle_86]

Just let 32bit die already, the reasons for it are 16bit app compatibly, those are no longer relevant for 99.9% and to add insult 32bit is lacking several critical security features that only work in 64bit mode.

 

[VitalyT]

this is really just a formality as all of the major desktop CPU makers stopped producing 32-bit processors long ago.

Not quite. They stopped producing CPU-s that are 32-bit only, while all the existing 64-bit CPU-s still support the complete 32-bit instruction set, to allow 32-bit processes run virtualized, and they will continue supporting 32-bit processes for quite some time into the future, for as long as there is still a lot of 32-bit legacy software.

 

[DelJo63]

Running 32bit on a 64bit platform is insane IMO -- regardless of 32bit legacy applications. It's time to move forward.

 

[Bullwinkle M]

Just let 32bit die already, the reasons for it are 16bit app compatibly, those are no longer relevant for 99.9% and to add insult 32bit is lacking several critical security features that only work in 64bit mode.

Aaaahhahhahhahahhahahhaha

What a Noob!

I'm running XP-SP2 online without ANY MS security updates and it's far more secure than a fully updated 64bit copy of Windows 10

 

[Bullwinkle M]

Running 32bit on a 64bit platform is insane IMO -- regardless of 32bit legacy applications. It's time to move forward.

You're not moving forward though!

Noobs!

 

[yRaz]

I'm a bit confused, are they just going to stop making 32 bit operating systems or are they discontinuing 32 bit support in 64bit windows?

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

Just let 32bit die already, the reasons for it are 16bit app compatibly, those are no longer relevant for 99.9% and to add insult 32bit is lacking several critical security features that only work in 64bit mode.

Huh?!?!? LOL

 

[BSim500]

I'm a bit confused, are they just going to stop making 32 bit operating systems or are they discontinuing 32 bit support in 64bit windows?

It sounds more like the former. It would be rather insane to do the latter given how much legacy software (including thousands of games still for sale on GOG / Steam) is out there for no real gain. W10 users in general would gain nothing from having 32-bit removed (64-bit W10 won't run any faster), whilst those that use 32-bit apps / games still would just pirate the cr*p out of LTSC / go back to W7).

If MS are just ditching 32-bit release images whilst W10 continues to have dual 64/32 support (which is what it sounds like), the only thing that'll stop working is being able to run 16-bit (DOS / Win 3.1) games natively under 32-bit W10 but then many DOS games that run natively under 32-bit OS's seem to run fine under DOSBox / ScummVM under 64-bit W7-10, whilst for old Win 3.1 games that won't run directly under DOSBox, it's actually possible to run Win 3.1 under DOSBox under W7-10 (64.

 

[captaincranky]

I'm running XP-SP2 online without ANY MS security updates and it's far more secure than a fully updated 64bit copy of Windows 10

Nah, 64 bit Windows 10 is more secure from everyone except M$ itself.

 

[captaincranky]

I'm a bit confused, are they just going to stop making 32 bit operating systems or are they discontinuing 32 bit support in 64bit windows?

/at least with Windows 7 Pro, they offered a VM free, (XP MODE), to run all XP programs. That seems unlikely to happen this time around, given M$' current, "hell bent on world domination 'mode'"

 

[candle_86]

Aaaahhahhahhahahhahahhaha

What a Noob!

I'm running XP-SP2 online without ANY MS security updates and it's far more secure than a fully updated 64bit copy of Windows 10

Yea ok kid, XP sp2 us about as secure as a screen door trying to stop flood waters. I'm glad your an *****, thanks for sharing. I guess the world is flat and vaccines cause autism aswell?

It sounds more like the former. It would be rather insane to do the latter given how much legacy software (including thousands of games still for sale on GOG / Steam) is out there for no real gain. W10 users in general would gain nothing from having 32-bit removed (64-bit W10 won't run any faster), whilst those that use 32-bit apps / games still would just pirate the cr*p out of LTSC / go back to W7).

If MS are just ditching 32-bit release images whilst W10 continues to have dual 64/32 support (which is what it sounds like), the only thing that'll stop working is being able to run 16-bit (DOS / Win 3.1) games natively under 32-bit W10 but then many DOS games that run natively under 32-bit OS's seem to run fine under DOSBox / ScummVM under 64-bit W7-10, whilst for old Win 3.1 games that won't run directly under DOSBox, it's actually possible to run Win 3.1 under DOSBox under W7-10 (64.

Check out pcem, you can run windows 95 and 98 games on emulated voodoo 2 and k6-3 if your hardware is fast enough.


As for huh lol there are any increased security like remote code execution protections built into hardware on modern chips, these hardware security features are only functional when the is and CPU are both 64bit, you need your cpu to be in long mode aka 64bit to use several hardware security features, in 32bit your limited to nx bit. There is a reason corporations moved to 64bit long before they started using more than 4gb of ram.

 

[candle_86]

Not quite. They stopped producing CPU-s that are 32-bit only, while all the existing 64-bit CPU-s still support the complete 32-bit instruction set, to allow 32-bit processes run virtualized, and they will continue supporting 32-bit processes for quite some time into the future, for as long as there is still a lot of 32-bit legacy software.

Technically all x86 CPUs support real mode aka 8086 mode, protected mode, virtual 8086 mode, enhanced 80386 protected mode (where current windows 32bit runs) and long mode.

 

[Bullwinkle M]

Technically all x86 CPUs support real mode aka 8086 mode, protected mode, virtual 8086 mode, enhanced 80386 protected mode (where current windows 32bit runs) and long mode.

Yet only Sandy Bridge and earlier can boot to a secure OS like a XP!

UEFI only motherboards lock you into backdoored walled garden spyware platforms like Windows 10

Real security experts (like myself) can prevent ALL forms of malware on our custom XP boxes from hosing our systems

In Spyware Platform 10, you cannot secure your own computer and are at the mercy of Microsoft to do it for you

You cannot close the backdoors in Windows 10 and your bitlocker encryption is backdoored as well

The recent thunderbolt flaws show you what I have been saying for years

https://www.zdnet.com/article/micro...olt-attacks-get-a-windows-10-secured-core-pc/

Bitlocker encryption does not require your password and can be accessed by Microsoft as well as other 3 letter agencies

Microsoft simply checks that your password is correct and then uses it's own key

This is similar to the problem with thumb drives from several years ago
https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/enterprise/vulnerability-in-some-secure-usb-sticks/

With XP, I can prevent Microsoft, as well as everyone else from wrecking my box

You, on the other hand, cannot!

 

[Uncle Al]

Really, is this a topic even worth discussing? Especially where there are companies out there still looking for COBOL programmers? LOL

 

[candle_86]

Yet only Sandy Bridge and earlier can boot to a secure OS like a XP!

UEFI only motherboards lock you into backdoored walled garden spyware platforms like Windows 10

Real security experts (like myself) can prevent ALL forms of malware on our custom XP boxes from hosing our systems

In Spyware Platform 10, you cannot secure your own computer and are at the mercy of Microsoft to do it for you

You cannot close the backdoors in Windows 10 and your bitlocker encryption is backdoored as well

The recent thunderbolt flaws show you what I have been saying for years

https://www.zdnet.com/article/micro...olt-attacks-get-a-windows-10-secured-core-pc/

Bitlocker encryption does not require your password and can be accessed by Microsoft as well as other 3 letter agencies

Microsoft simply checks that your password is correct and then uses it's own key

This is similar to the problem with thumb drives from several years ago
https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/enterprise/vulnerability-in-some-secure-usb-sticks/

With XP, I can prevent Microsoft, as well as everyone else from wrecking my box

You, on the other hand, cannot!

Your not a security expert, not even close

 

[Bullwinkle M]

Your not a security expert, not even close

Says the Noob

 

[neeyik]

That’s enough with the personal remarks, folks. Stick to the news topic.

 

[nismo91]

Good riddance I suppose. I've been using 64-bit systems starting with vista for more than 10 years now and I see no reason why even a low-end machine today shouldn't use it. even Android phones!

in 2014 I got myself a cheap tablet with intel bay-trail cpu. The cpu supports 64-bit OS, but it was shipped with 32-bit Win 8.1 and UEFI was locked for 32bit OS only. Now it is extremely difficult to run other OSes such as Chrome OS, Linux Lite or Ubuntu. also in 2017 I got myself an LG G5SE (by region) which uses SD652 SoC which definitely supports 64-bit architecture. But LG decided to use armv7 architecture on this device making it incompatible with some applications from the playstore.

I know I made some poor choice of purchase in the past, but trust me it's now 2020 people and I can't stand seeing newer device having 32-bit OS installed!

 

[VCSMaster]

Reading the article, Microsoft is only dropping OEM support for 32-bit versions of Windows 10, not all support in general. Windows 10 is probably still going to be around in a 32-bit form for a long while yet.

As for the concerns about why 32-bit Windows should be kept around... For Windows 10 I can't see a reason personally. The biggest motivations for a 32-bit install of Windows used to be driver model compatibility (32-bit supports older devices much better than 64-bit) and software backwards compatibility. Unfortunately for Windows 10, both of these have been mostly cut out with the addition of other, shall we say, "features" which Microsoft has decided to add. Dropping legacy support in a few various ways has given businesses a tough time when upgrading if they still use any legacy hardware or software, which has led them to stick with previous versions of Windows for the sake of cost savings alone. The pros don't outweigh the potentially multi-million dollar cons of upgrading their entire system just to support a new version.

My guess is that Microsoft is keeping Windows 10 32-bit editions around to help encourage people using older hardware to upgrade, who don't care so much about the system itself. Grandma may have a Core Duo but because it checks Facebook no problem she doesn't want to spend $300+ on a new computer just for a perceived security update, she's more likely to have grandson or granddaughter just install Windows 10 on it. It's also a safe assumption that building a 32-bit version of Windows 10 at the same time as 64-bit is probably free or close to it for Microsoft. The tiny extra user market share they gain from it probably leads to more revenue than it costs to keep churning them out.

Oh, and 32-bit versions of Windows require less system resources while running. Granted this is only applicable for very, very old or cheap and basic machines, it's still something one must factor in. Microsoft isn't all software, they're a business too, and businesses need to make money.

P.S. While I don't agree at all that Windows XP SP2 is safe in the slightest, a fully updated copy of SP3 with the POS2009 updates installed running on something like a Pentium III or 4 is probably very well off in the world security-wise. If most legitimate applications won't run on Windows XP period, let alone a 32-bit install on DirectX 6/7 hardware and flat out lacking modern processor extensions... I have serious doubts that any modern malicious code will be able to run at all. Not a valid Win32 application or entry point could not be found in KERNAL32.DLL!
However, the same does NOT go for any web content you come across. It's still not a wise decision, but having the machine around is probably not much of a security concern. Just make sure your personal information is not stored on it or anything it may be able to access easily.

 

[Nobina]

Now phase out 64bit version of Windows 10.

 

[MasterMace]

Win 10 should have come as only 64bit.

 

[captaincranky]

....[ ]....Oh, and 32-bit versions of Windows require less system resources while running. Granted this is only applicable for very, very old or cheap and basic machines, it's still something one must factor in. Microsoft isn't all software, they're a business too, and businesses need to make money.....[ ].....

The only real issue with 32 bit Windows installations is the 4 GB memory limit. But that's not much of a hurdle for day to day tasks. I do run up against it occasionally with 2 browsers open with 60+ tabs between them. Firefox is the most problematic. (Believe it or not) Opera, (which is Chrome based), fares much better, despite the massive number of processes it generates while running

XP didn't fare as well at 4 GB of memory as Vista or Win 7. In fact, it was most comfortable with 2 GB.

In any discussion about security, M$ tends to ignore after market product's contributions. I'm thinking they'd rather not admit they exist. While "Windows Defender", at one time was rated the biggest turd on the planet with respect to mallware recognition, but now at times, has been rated "best".

So, a bulletproof vest doesn't make you bulletproof, nor does "Windows Defender" do anything to mitigate intrusion from M$ itself.

So, still, I'm sticking with Win 7, which I have in both 32 & 64 bit variants

 

[candle_86]

Reading the article, Microsoft is only dropping OEM support for 32-bit versions of Windows 10, not all support in general. Windows 10 is probably still going to be around in a 32-bit form for a long while yet.

As for the concerns about why 32-bit Windows should be kept around... For Windows 10 I can't see a reason personally. The biggest motivations for a 32-bit install of Windows used to be driver model compatibility (32-bit supports older devices much better than 64-bit) and software backwards compatibility. Unfortunately for Windows 10, both of these have been mostly cut out with the addition of other, shall we say, "features" which Microsoft has decided to add. Dropping legacy support in a few various ways has given businesses a tough time when upgrading if they still use any legacy hardware or software, which has led them to stick with previous versions of Windows for the sake of cost savings alone. The pros don't outweigh the potentially multi-million dollar cons of upgrading their entire system just to support a new version.

My guess is that Microsoft is keeping Windows 10 32-bit editions around to help encourage people using older hardware to upgrade, who don't care so much about the system itself. Grandma may have a Core Duo but because it checks Facebook no problem she doesn't want to spend $300+ on a new computer just for a perceived security update, she's more likely to have grandson or granddaughter just install Windows 10 on it. It's also a safe assumption that building a 32-bit version of Windows 10 at the same time as 64-bit is probably free or close to it for Microsoft. The tiny extra user market share they gain from it probably leads to more revenue than it costs to keep churning them out.

Oh, and 32-bit versions of Windows require less system resources while running. Granted this is only applicable for very, very old or cheap and basic machines, it's still something one must factor in. Microsoft isn't all software, they're a business too, and businesses need to make money.

P.S. While I don't agree at all that Windows XP SP2 is safe in the slightest, a fully updated copy of SP3 with the POS2009 updates installed running on something like a Pentium III or 4 is probably very well off in the world security-wise. If most legitimate applications won't run on Windows XP period, let alone a 32-bit install on DirectX 6/7 hardware and flat out lacking modern processor extensions... I have serious doubts that any modern malicious code will be able to run at all. Not a valid Win32 application or entry point could not be found in KERNAL32.DLL!
However, the same does NOT go for any web content you come across. It's still not a wise decision, but having the machine around is probably not much of a security concern. Just make sure your personal information is not stored on it or anything it may be able to access easily.

My only thought is sp3 is somewhat secure I have two retro boxes running sp3 with latest post ready updates, but sp2 unpatched is still vulnerable to ms blaster worm. And as someone who does alot of home support plenty of malicious code is still out their because alot of companies and governments are still running 2k and XP for God knows why. I honestly feel 98SE with firefox 10 esr is safer than XP on the internet today.

 

[DDG4005]

I'm a bit confused, are they just going to stop making 32 bit operating systems or are they discontinuing 32 bit support in 64bit windows?

No, Microsoft will no longer provide 32-bit Windows 10 for OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). Windows 10 64-bit will continue to support 32-bit applications. Hope this clarifies the article.