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Posted on November 23rd, 2009 by Simon Jones
Office 2010 Beta – 32-bit or 64-bit – The Choice is Clear
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and this is the first time that a 64-bit version of Office has been available. 64-bit processing brings some advantages but are they outweighed by the disadvantages of being on the bleeding edge of technology?
If you’re running 64-bit Windows Vista or Windows 7 (or Server 2008 or Server 2008 R2), you can choose whether to the install 64-bit version of Office 2010 beta. (It is not compatible with 64-bit Windows XP.)
The advantages of the 64-bit version are that it lets you use additional memory installed on your computer – for example Excel 2010 workbooks can be bigger than 2GB. Project 2010 can work with very large projects consisting of many sub-projects. You also get enhanced security through Data Execution Prevention (DEP) by default.
But, not many people will actually need Excel Workbooks bigger than 2GB. If you ever made one, you could not store it in SharePoint – 2GB is SharePoint’s limit for any file – and you could not share it with anyone who wasn’t running 64-bit Office 2010 because they wouldn’t be able to open it.
Access databases with their code removed (split data & code in separate files) can’t be shared between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office and any VBA code may not be compatible between 32-bit and 64-bit versions, particularly where the code declares API calls to Windows or uses the new LongLong or LongPtr data types introduced in the 64-bit version.
Graphic elements may render more slowly in the 64-bit version of Office because 64-bit CPUs may lack MMX support for multimedia and communications.
The biggest problem by far is that ActiveX controls Add-Ins and COM DLLs written for 32-bit Office will not work with the new 64-bit version. Microsoft are due to release a new VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) runtime which will bridge this gap for DLLs and Add-Ins written using VSTO but it isn’t available yet. Other manufacturers will have to test, possibly change, and re-issue their DLLs and Add-Ins in 64-bit versions to get them to work.
There are yet more problems if you try to work with web based solutions that use ActiveX controls. For instance SharePoint uses an ActiveX control to render SharePoint lists in Datasheet View. This view is not supported if you install the 64-bit version of Office 2010.
All in all, the 64-bit version of Office is useful to very few people and has many limitations. The vast majority of people will be much better off sticking to the 32-bit version.
Posted in: Microsoft Office 2010, Real World Computing
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10 Responses to “ Office 2010 Beta – 32-bit or 64-bit – The Choice is Clear ”
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November 23rd, 2009 at 8:39 am
I’m running 64-bit Vista, about to change to 64-bit Win7, but I chose to install the 32-bit beta as I couldn’t believe there would be a significant benefit in accessing all the memory installed, so thanks for clarifying that. Does *anyone* have an Excel workbook in excess of 2 GB?
Where I thought it might help is with PowerPoint presentations that have video or multiple graphics embedded. These can be notoriously slow on older version of PPT. Do you have any info on whether a PPT presentation put together using a 64-bit version would be readable/playable on a 32-bit system?
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:57 am
Yes, 32-bit PowerPoint can open/save files created with 64-bit PowerPoint and vice-versa. Obviously, the 2GB limit would apply to the 32-bit version.
PowerPoint 2010 is much better at dealing with embedded video but slow machines may still stutter during playback particularly if you’re applying effects to the video.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:58 am
Another reason to go 32-bit is that you can install it alongside an existing non-beta Office setup – the 64-bit doesn’t allow this.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:49 am
Jim,
You are correct and also you cannot install any 32-bit MAPI based messaging application if you have 64-bit Office installed nor can you install 64-bit Office if you have a 32-bit MAPI messaging application installed.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:52 am
It seems fairly obvious to me, then, that migrating to Office 2010 64bit is not really an option for many people, especially given that many organisations with whom I deal do not yet have Office 2007.
I would willingly try it, but not at the expense of not being able to run 32bit Office 2007 alongside it.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:15 am
“Graphic elements may render more slowly in the 64-bit version of Office because 64-bit CPUs may lack MMX support for multimedia and communications.”
Err…huh?
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:56 am
The MMX instruction set does the work of many conventional instructions in single commands. The single commands run faster than the conventional instructions.
Microsoft say that Office 2010 64-bit on Windows 64-bit may render graphics more slowly than Office 2010 32-bit on Windows 32-bit because the 64-bit CPU doesn’t support the MMX instruction set.
In fact, MMX instructions may work on 64-bit CPUs but SSE/SSE2 instructions may be faster and (probably because of this) Microsoft deprecated the use of MMX instructions on 64-bit CPUs.
It sounds like Office 2010 64-bit has been written to not use MMX because it is deprecated but is not using the, faster, SSE/SSE2 instructions either but dropping back to conventional instructions instead.
See http://www.tommesani.com/MMXPrimer.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMX_(instruction_set)
http://www.intel.com/design/intarch/mmx/mmx.htm
January 21st, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Why is my Office 2010 Beta asking for a product key?
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:42 am
Why is my Office 2010 Beta asking for a product key?
Because it wants one. You will have been given one as part of the download or signup.
In any Office 2010 application, click File | Help | Change Product Key (on the right hand side).
Enter the Product Key you were given and let Office go through a short “Installation” routine to record that key.
August 26th, 2010 at 9:05 am
I think the point made about the utilisation of MMX capabilities may be a bit of a red herring. If someone is deciding whether or not to use the 64 bit of Office it would imply they already have a 64 bit processor – which version of Office they then choose doesn’t really matter. The rest of the points are valid though so I’ve stuck with the 32 bit version – thanks for your article!