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Also, would it be possible to install a x64 kernel, to transform it to a full 64bit installation?

Andreas Hartmann
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2 Answers2

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Short answer: No, a 32bit system can only execute 32bit binaries.

Jan
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you should think of 32 vs. 64 bit as if 64 Bus (mistakenly talking about processor) is like a truck that is as twice as wide than a normal truck (for 32 bit) , sure the 64 carries more cargo (data) on one trip than the normal 32 bit, so it is better if you use 64 bit OS to better benefit from hardware, the issue you mentioned is related to the way the apps are developed , the majority of 64 bit apps started as 32 bits apps that's why they have a hard time running on 64bit OS, due to it's original code base and the limitations of the porting operation

younes
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    This is a very vague explanation that misses the point in my opinion: 64-bit applications rely on an address space of 64 bits, which cannot be trivially satisfied by a kernel using a 32-bit address space. The other way around is much simpler. – David Foerster Nov 20 '14 at 00:13
  • i agree, i just made it clear as installing a 64 bis OS is better in term of performance, rather than only talking about the app point of view, using non techie words will make it easy to grasp than using the 2³² and 2⁶⁴ way! don't you think? – younes Nov 20 '14 at 00:17
  • The question doesn't mention performance. I also think that your analogy isn't any more useful to an attentive, non-technical reader than my explanation: both show that 64 (or 2^64) of something cannot easily fit into something that can only hold up to 32 (or 2^32) of the same thing. – David Foerster Nov 20 '14 at 00:25
  • he mentioned this "However there have been examples of where certain applications performed better in 32bit and also used less disk space" – younes Nov 20 '14 at 00:28
  • As I understand it, the comment about performance is a motivation for the question, not a part of the question. That comment also suggests that OP knows about the varying performance of 32 vs. 64 bits (both on kernel and application level). – David Foerster Nov 20 '14 at 00:33
  • I found the answer quite interesting in that it informed me about why some 32bit apps may outperform their 64bit counterparts, even though it doesn't answer the main question. – Andreas Hartmann Nov 20 '14 at 10:34