System 

What is the bit depth of Windows and Linux systems? Comprehensive information about the bit depth of the operating system? Linux script to determine system bit depth



Date of publication: October 2014
Translation: Semenenko V.
Transfer date: May 2015

It is always useful to know at least the basic characteristics operating system, under which you have to work on the computer. For example, you may need to know the bitness of the operating system - 32-bit or 64-bit? This is for the case when during installation additional program you need to select which bit program you need to download in order to install it on the system.

Of course, the Ubuntu Software Center has a large number of the most various programs for an operating room Ubuntu system Linux. However, sometimes you may need to install a program from a third-party source that offers a choice of both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the same program. And which version of the program should I choose in this case?

This article will describe several ways to determine what bit depth the operating system has. Linux systems- 32-bit or 64-bit. Some of these methods provide even more information than just the system's bit capacity.

The first two methods use the uname console command, which displays the required information in a terminal window. If you need to get more information about the system, you need to run the uname command with the -a flag:

$ uname -a

As a result, the terminal window will display information in the following order:

  • operating system kernel name
  • machine network name (hostname)
  • operating system kernel release number
  • operating system kernel version
  • car name
  • CPU type
  • platform
  • operating system

In the list displayed by the command, the system bit depth is the first digits after the local time of the machine (the images in the article are clickable):

For example, if the system is 64-bit, then in the console it will be indicated as x86_64; if the system is 32-bit, then in the console it will be indicated as i686 or i386. Please note that in the output of the uname program, the type of central processor and platform are indicated in the same way as the bitness of the operating system.

If using the uname command you only need to get the bit depth of the operating system, then just run it in a terminal window with the -m flag:

$ uname -m

This command will display the name of the machine and, in addition, show the bitness of the operating system - 32-bit (i686 or i386) or 64-bit (x86_64):

The arch console command is similar to the uname command with the -m flag. The terminal window will also display the bit depth of the operating system - 32-bit (i686 or i386) or 64-bit (x86_64). To do this, enter the name of the command arch in the console and run it by pressing the Enter key:

Another console command for displaying information about the bitness of the operating system is the file command, specifying the special argument /sbin/init. In the terminal window you need to enter a command like:

$file/sbin/init

A lot of information will be displayed in the console, of which in this case only the first line is needed (more precisely, the beginning of this line) - ... ELF 64-bit LSB ... :

If for some reason using console commands is unacceptable, you can use graphical utilities, available as part of any Linux operating system.

Translator's note: in this case, be prepared for the fact that in different Desktop Environments (GNOME Shell, Cinnamon, Xfce, KDE, Unity) and Window Managers (Enlightenment, Fluxbox, Xfce and so on) the location necessary information may be different every time. Console utilities are more universal in this regard.

Let's consider obtaining information about the bitness of the operating system using the example Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon. In the main menu of the system, select "System Settings". In the "System Settings" window that opens, find the "System Info" icon in the "Hardware" section. A window of the same name will open with information about the Linux operating system:


In the first line “Operating System” we see the type of operating system and its bit depth.

Computer architecture(eng. Computer architecture) - the structure of a computer that determines the processing of information and the principles of interaction technical means and software.
Computer random access memory (RAM, RAM). Computer RAM is abbreviated as RAM(random access memory) or RAM(random access memory - random access memory).

What is bit depth? Bit capacity is the ability to simultaneously process a certain number of bits.
All systems Linux exist in two versions - 32-bit And 64-bit.
Architectural differences between 32 And 64-bit versions Linux, of course there is.
The most important features and differences that directly affect the user and which he has to deal with:

1. Maximum volume random access memory(RAM).
2. Operating system bit size (32 or 64-bit).
3. Processor capacity.

Maximum amount of RAM.

32-bit the operating system can use, "see" no more than 4 GB of RAM. This is the most important difference, and the most significant. If your computer has random access memory (RAM) - 2 GB, That 32-bit The operating system works fine with this volume.

64-bit the operating system can work with much more ABOUT larger amounts of memory – up to 192 GB.

If you are on a computer with 4 GB RAM you will work under the management 32-bit OS, then she simply won’t see such volume. All she can use is approximately 3.5 GB from 4 GB. It cannot provide the remaining volume for running programs. Of course, if you install it on a computer with 8 GB RAM, say, and at the same time you will remain on 32-bit system, then she won’t see again 3.5 GB from the entire established volume and the remaining 4.5 GB will simply remain unused.

What features does a 64-bit system have?

Visually – none. Those. outwardly it is a regular OS, no different from 32-bit option.
Technically, there are minor differences. The first thing is that 64-bit OS“sees” large amounts of memory and knows how to work with them. Secondly, it allows you to run 64-bit applications(32-bit - no).

Processor capacity.

Accordingly, in order to be able to install 64-bit Linux, your processor must support 64-bit instructions (otherwise you won't even be able to start installing 64-bit Linux). These instructions can be called differently: Intel-IA64, AMD - AMD64.

To determine what type of processor (32 or 64-bit) your computer has, run the following command in the terminal:


As you can see in the picture after executing the command, the architecture of my computer x86_64, i.e. 64-bit. And the processor supports both 32-bit, so 64-bit architecture of installed systems.
If after executing the command you see numbers x86, i686 or i386, means your computer's processor - 32-bit and you can only install on it 32-bit systems.

To check the architecture of the installed Linux OS on your computer, run one of the following commands in a terminal.

Greetings, dear readers! Today you will learn everything about system capacity. This will be another building block in your computer knowledge base. Many people are confused about the bit depth of operating systems and don’t even know how to determine it on their PC. We will help you understand what the system bit depth is, what bit depths there are, and what the difference is between them.

What is bit depth anyway? In computer science bit depth- this is the number of bits that can be simultaneously processed by a given device (in our case, the OS). Today there are only two bit operating systems. This 32-bit And 64-bit. This means that a 32-bit OS can only process 32 bits of information at a time. And accordingly, a 64-bit system is twice as large, i.e. 64 bits of information. But this is not the only and not the most important difference between operating systems of different bit depths.

Differences between x32 and x64 bit operating systems

  • The main difference between a 32-bit system and a 64-bit one is that the x32-bit system only works with 3.5 GB random access memory. Even if the system has 8 GB of RAM, the x32 can only max out about 3.5 GB of memory. 64-bit system supports up to 128 GB RAM.
  • A 64-bit system can run 64-bit applications. It launches and works with 32-bit applications with the same success.
  • A 32-bit system cannot run x64 applications.
  • 64-bit systems have support for multi-core and multiprocessing
  • 64-bit systems require the installation of special x64 drivers for devices.
  • The processor must have support for 64-bit systems.

Pros and cons of switching to a 64-bit system

There are more advantages and they are very convincing, as you will see now, but there are options in which the choice will be a winning one x32 systems.

pros

  1. Support for large amounts of RAM (the biggest plus)
  2. Launch and work with both 32-bit and 64-bit applications.
  3. Noticeable performance gains on systems with multi-core processors.

Minuses

  1. There may be problems with the search compatible drivers(at present this risk has been practically reduced to zero)
  2. The transition will not be justified if the system has 4 GB of RAM or less. The fact is that the 64-bit system itself and 64-bit programs consume RAM many times more than 32-bit ones. And the seemingly freed 0.5 GB of RAM will go to it. In such a situation, it is better to stay on the x32 system.

How to find out the system bit size on a PC?

Ways find out the system capacity There is a lot installed on the computer. For each OS they are naturally radically different. We will find out the bit depth on Windows operating systems, and also, as a bonus, on Linux OS. But first, let's look at the notation for the system capacity adopted in the IT field.

Bit capacity designations: x32, x64, x86.

As you probably guessed from the article, a 32-bit OS is designated as x32, and a 64-bit OS as x64. But very often the 32-bit system is designated as x86. On the Internet, some users understand x32 and x86 to be the same system. It is not right. x86 is the microprocessor architecture and hardware platform. It can be applied to both 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
The fact is that the names of the first processors Intel 86 was always assigned at the end (for example I8086 or 80386, etc.) In the future, even when processors from Intel began to be called Pentium, the platform continued to be designated as such. From there, this incorrect designation has survived to this day. The correct notation for 32-bit systems should be x86_32 and for 64-bit respectively x86_64 or just x32 and x64.

Let's find out the bit depth of the system on Windows.

On Windows of all versions, you can find out the bit depth by simply clicking right click mouse by shortcut My computer and choosing from context menu paragraph " Properties". The system window will open.

In this window in the item " System type" and will be indicated capacity of your system.
On XP, the bit depth in this paragraph will only be indicated if the system 64-bit.

Finding out the bit capacity of the system on Linux

Basically the user linux should by default know such little things. But what if he forgot, I’ll remind him. There are several ways find out the system capacity on linux . We will consider only one.
Let's use the terminal. You can open it through the panel by going to " Applications->Standard->Terminal"or the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Alt + T.
In the terminal, type the command uname -m and press Enter

The machine name and system bit size will be displayed.



Date of publication: October 2014
Translation: Semenenko V.
Transfer date: May 2015

It is always useful to know at least the basic characteristics of the operating system under which you work on the computer. For example, you may need to know the bitness of the operating system - 32-bit or 64-bit? This is for the case when, when installing an additional program, you need to select which bit program you need to download in order to install it on the system.

Of course, the Ubuntu Software Center has a large number of different programs for the operating system Ubuntu Linux. However, sometimes you may need to install a program from a third-party source that offers a choice of both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the same program. And which version of the program should I choose in this case?

This article will describe several ways to determine whether the Linux operating system is 32-bit or 64-bit. Some of these methods provide even more information than just the system's bit capacity.

The first two methods use the uname console command, which displays the required information in a terminal window. If you need to get more information about the system, you need to run the uname command with the -a flag:

$ uname -a

As a result, the terminal window will display information in the following order:

  • operating system kernel name
  • machine network name (hostname)
  • operating system kernel release number
  • operating system kernel version
  • car name
  • CPU type
  • platform
  • operating system

In the list displayed by the command, the system bit depth is the first digits after the local time of the machine (the images in the article are clickable):

For example, if the system is 64-bit, then in the console it will be indicated as x86_64; if the system is 32-bit, then in the console it will be indicated as i686 or i386. Please note that in the output of the uname program, the type of central processor and platform are indicated in the same way as the bitness of the operating system.

If using the uname command you only need to get the bit depth of the operating system, then just run it in a terminal window with the -m flag:

$ uname -m

This command will display the name of the machine and, in addition, show the bitness of the operating system - 32-bit (i686 or i386) or 64-bit (x86_64):

The arch console command is similar to the uname command with the -m flag. The terminal window will also display the bit depth of the operating system - 32-bit (i686 or i386) or 64-bit (x86_64). To do this, enter the name of the command arch in the console and run it by pressing the Enter key:

Another console command for displaying information about the bitness of the operating system is the file command, specifying the special argument /sbin/init. In the terminal window you need to enter a command like:

$file/sbin/init

A lot of information will be displayed in the console, of which in this case only the first line is needed (more precisely, the beginning of this line) - ... ELF 64-bit LSB ... :

If for some reason using console commands is unacceptable, then you can use the graphical utilities included with any Linux operating system.

Translator's note: in this case, be prepared for the fact that in different Desktop Environments (GNOME Shell, Cinnamon, Xfce, KDE, Unity) and Window Managers (Enlightenment, Fluxbox, Xfce, and so on), the location of the necessary information may be different each time. Console utilities are more universal in this regard.

Let's consider obtaining information about the bitness of the operating system on Linux example Mint 17.1 Cinnamon. In the main menu of the system, select "System Settings". In the "System Settings" window that opens, find the "System Info" icon in the "Hardware" section. A window of the same name will open with information about the Linux operating system:


In the first line “Operating System” we see the type of operating system and its bit depth.

How to find out what bit processor (32 or 64-bit) your computer has
First, let's define what bit depth is and why this data may be useful to you. Bit capacity shows how many bits the processor can process simultaneously.

All Linux systems are available in two variations - for 32-bit processors and for 64-bit processors. Of course, this division did not appear just like that. Some of the most important differences that any user may encounter are:

  1. Maximum amount of RAM used
    It so happens that 32-bit systems simply cannot “see” the amount of RAM that goes beyond 4 gigabytes. This difference can be called the most significant and important. On 64-bit systems, the system can “see” and work correctly with 192 gigabytes of RAM. Therefore, before increasing the amount of RAM, you should find out whether they will be available in the system.
  2. Processor size
    The processor capacity allows you to install operating systems of a certain capacity. To install a 64-bit system, you must use a 64-bit processor.
  3. Operating system bit size
    Externally, operating systems of different bit levels are no different. There are only minor technical differences. The main thing concerns, again, RAM, its volume and correct work with it. Also, in a 64-bit system you can run both 64-bit and 32-bit applications, which a 32-bit system cannot boast of.

Commands to display information about the processor:

If you are working on a Linux system, then you can easily find out the bitness of your system and processor. To know exactly what bit size your processor is, enter the command in the terminal:

Detailed information will appear on the screen, including the bit capacity of your processor.

If you want to find out what bit depth your system is installed on, then just use the command in the terminal.