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Since Linux is dropping 32 Bit support because the production of 32 bit systems was closed in 2008.

I Accidentally installed Ubuntu 17.10 64bit on my 32 Bit system and I changed later to Kali Linux 2017.3 32 Bit(Still Using).

Now I want to know what problems will I face if I use a 64 Bit Os On a 32 bit System. Is My System is a Really 32Bit? 

lscpu

This was the Output!

Architecture:        i686
CPU op-mode(s):      32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order:          Little Endian
CPU(s):              2
On-line CPU(s) list: 0,1
Thread(s) per core:  1
Core(s) per socket:  2
Socket(s):           1
Vendor ID:           GenuineIntel
CPU family:          15
Model:               6
Model name:          Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.40GHz
Stepping:            4
CPU MHz:             3400.000
CPU max MHz:         3400.0000
CPU min MHz:         2400.0000
BogoMIPS:            6782.84
L1d cache:           16K
L2 cache:            2048K
Flags:               fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc pebs bts cpuid pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est cid cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm
derHugo
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Yasir Rehman
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    You'll face the problem of not being able to install a 64bit OS. – mikewhatever Jan 05 '18 at 14:39
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    Well You Didn't Read It Correctly I Installed 64-bit ubuntu 17.10 and used it but later changed it – Yasir Rehman Jan 05 '18 at 14:42
  • Is this your CPU https://ark.intel.com/products/27520/Intel-Pentium-D-Processor-945-4M-Cache-3_40-GHz-800-MHz-FSB ? – M. Dm. Jan 05 '18 at 14:55
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    Your cpu supports 64 bit OS. The lm flag is 64 bit CPU and you can not install a 64 bit OS on a 32 bit CPU. I have never seen any problems running a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit CPU, but why would you want to do that ? First you are not using your CPU to its full ability, second all major distros, including Kali have a 64 bit option, and last 32 bit support is falling off. – Panther Jan 05 '18 at 14:55
  • Sorry, my bad. That said, you seem to have gone out of your way to make it difficult to read. Why is every word capitalized? It looks insane. – mikewhatever Jan 05 '18 at 15:00
  • I want to try out Fedora or Arch Linux as well but they support 64-bit only now and there is no advantage of installing an outdated version of any OS – Yasir Rehman Jan 05 '18 at 15:09
  • Yes, @M.Dm. My PC Is A Pentium D – Yasir Rehman Jan 05 '18 at 15:10
  • "So They Are All Dropping 32 Bit" That is not true. – Rinzwind Jan 05 '18 at 15:14
  • @Rinzwind - yes they are . Although there is current 32 bit support in most OS, moving forward, over time, 32 bit support is less and less and will eventually go away. – Panther Jan 05 '18 at 15:25
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    Small clarification, 32 bit processors, with the possible exception of boutique manufacturers, are no longer in production as of 2017, and as such support for 32 bit processors is on the decline. Support will not "drop" overnight, as there are many long term supported OS, Ubuntu LTS, RHEL/Centos, Debian, etc, but support for 32 bit processors is dropping. kernel.org does not support i386 for example. See https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/Stop_Building_i686_Kernels and subsequent discussions for example so 32 bit support is in the decline and will fade away. – Panther Jan 05 '18 at 15:55
  • @panther no. It is not all of them. The main versions sure. But not all. – Rinzwind Jan 05 '18 at 17:37
  • and even then panther: those 32-bit systems from 2010-2017 have PAE. – Rinzwind Jan 05 '18 at 19:20
  • @Rinzwind Yes even the smaller distros are in decline. Once kernel.org drops support so will the smaller distros. The smaller distors are even more denpenent on either a single person or upstream. Can you cite any distro that is actively maintaining support for 386-586 ? (not 686, older cpu that were dropped by kernel.org)? They have a 4.14.12 kernel that fully supports and is patched for 386 ? – Panther Jan 05 '18 at 20:19

2 Answers2

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Architecture: i686
CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit

You have a 64-bit system. A 64-bit OS will not run on a 32-bit processor because the 32-bit processor does not have the capability to read or process 64-bit code.

ravery
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I do not (yet) see a problem with the current path Ubuntu is taking and you system.

Specifically targeted to your question:

  1. You have a machine capable of 64-bit so why not switch to it?

General observations:

  1. Support for 32-bit Ubuntu will be until at least 2021 since 16.04 has a 32-bit version and has support until 2021. Lots of time to get a new machine that is 64-bit if you do not have one. 64-bit machines will be cheaper the longer you wait if you really can't afford a 200 euro/dollars for a 2nd hand notebook.
  2. Even past 2021 you are able to still run 16.04 if you want to. Yes, risky due to not getting security updates but if your system is not for storing sensitive data it is a matter of watching what you do with your system (and that is always a good idea).
  3. Not all Ubuntu follow mainstream. Ubuntu Mate supports Power PC even though mainstream Ubuntu does not. The same could happen with 32-bit.
  4. This is about the i386 branch. The hardware we are talking about is 20 years old. Support in the kernel has dropped already a few years ago. Hardware up to 2004 should be able to run 64-bit where some pentium M need PAE (wikipedia). Hardware newer than 2004 will be 64-bit.

I really doubt dropping 32-bit is going to be a serious problem for anyone.

Rinzwind
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