Linus Torvalds (torvalds@osdl.org) on 5/13/07 wrote:
---------------------------
>
>And dammit, in this age and date when almost everybody
>has a gigabyte of RAM in any new machine, anybody who still
>thinks that "not that many people need 64-bits" is simply
>not aware of what he's speaking of.
>
>Go back and play with HIGHMEM.SYS on a 286, and stop
>blathering crap. When you've spent the last ten
>years of your life working with HIGHMEM.SYS, then
>you can come back and tell me that we still don't need
>64 bits. Until that is the case, anybody who still doesn't
>get why 64 bits is a requirement should just shut
>up rather than make a total fool of himself.
>

It is possible I was playing with himem.sys before you were aware of what it was...

Considering the vast majority of users don't have a gig of RAM, and don't have a new computer, it obviously *isn't* a requirement - except according to marketing folk and the few who actually do need it. So please, get off your high-horse and recognize that you, and most of those you generally interact with, are *not* average users.

64-bits is a requirement for developers, and for commercial environments. For the average user it isn't, and won't be even when they have no choice but to use it. Regardless of whether it is free or otherwise.

I work in a software development company where thousands of workers still use 32-bit machines. And are perfectly happy with them, because most of them *don't* do development, and some of them develop for other platforms.

I interact with quite a number of people who still have 'old' machines, and have no plans to upgrade. And many use the for business.

Regards,
Dean