Arch Linux

ArchPad

Member

Registered: 2007-03-26

Posts: 81

64-bit or 1686 Arch for Macbook?

I'm running a Macbook with a 2GHz Intel Core Duo processor. Should I be installing the i686 or the 64-bit version? Besides compatibility with my hardware and performance, what consequences does this decision have for software compatibility, etc?

skottish

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From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: 64-bit or 1686 Arch for Macbook?

There's a bunch of threads around here about 64 vs. 32 bit if you want an in depth discussion.

From my point of view it really depends on your usage. If you intend to do heavy video encoding, run huge databases, or work with very complex modeling, 64 bit is probably the better option. Of course massive RAM support is a big plus here. The downside is that there are some hoops to jump through for proprietary and/or 32 bit-by-nature software like Skype, Flash, Wine, and so on, to work. I've found that running these programs isn't too much of hassle, but it's not as easy as pacman -S skype. If you'd like some better input, post what you intend to do with this machine.

Last edited by skottish (2008-04-12 23:44:45)