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Windows and Ubuntu can't do upgrades from 32-bit to 64-bit. Why isn't it just a matter of copying over 64-bit versions of the files?

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Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered! – Diago♦ Nov 18 at 18:59
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I don't see why this is closed as "subjective and argumentative". There /are/ clear and perfectly good reasons why it isn't trivial, which may not be obvious. – Captain Segfault Nov 18 at 19:01
If this question was asking what the technical reason are for this not working, showing the OP's actual original research into the matter, as well as being listed as a CW, it may be allowed. The current way this question is asked, it is not providing any value. Furthermore the reasons for this differ among operating systems. – Diago♦ Nov 19 at 5:38
@Diago: I don't want discussion either and was expecting a concise, knowledgeable answer from someone that knows why this is a problem that neither the Ubuntu or Windows teams have addressed. I don't know enough about the subject matter to phrase the question better and can't provide research for the same reason. I know how this platform works and don't see how I'm abusing it or why the Q should be CW. If you can edit my question so that it can be answered according to your rules, please do so. The attitude in these comments and closure have seriously pissed me off participating in this site. – Alex Angas Nov 19 at 14:45
@Alex. The question was closed as it was flagged. I reviewed it and made a decision. One of the goals of this site is to have quality questions as well as answers. Some of the comments on the answers have also been flagged as subjective. If you are offended then you are reading more into my comments then you should. I am simply acting on the comments provided by the rest of the SU community. Please indicate how the why not just copy the files across does not encourage discussion? If I have an opportunity later today I will look at editing it. – Diago♦ Nov 19 at 15:07

migrated from stackoverflow.com Nov 18 at 18:58

closed as subjective and argumentative by Diago♦ Nov 18 at 18:58
It's impossible to objectively answer this question; questions of this type are too open ended and usually lead to confrontation and argument.

3 Answers

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The binary user data files that have been generated by 32-bit applications would not be readable by their 64-bit equivalents. It would be a nightmare just sorting out which work and which don't.

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Do you have a source for this info? I'm skeptical... you're basically saying if I use MS Word x64 and you are using MS Word x86, we can't share files? – Graeme Donaldson Nov 18 at 18:08
Well, technically the more recent versions of word have been using zip archives full of xml, but that's really beside the point, he's not talking about files you would be interacting with in userland; configuration data that expects a certain amount of bits per integer and what-not. – Dereleased Nov 18 at 18:38
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It's a matter of installing a 64-bit version of every executable or library on the sysetm, not just the new ones. At that point, an upgrade is the equivalent of a reinstall. In Ubuntu, if you put /home on a separate partition (which you don't reformat during an install), you back up configuration files in /etc, and you save the package list from your 32-bit install, then you should be able to do a full reinstall and have an almost identical 64-bit system to your 32-bit system with only a couple hours' work (not much more time than an upgrade takes to begin with).

Windows, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated because you have to find and install by hand 64-bit versions of all of your 32-bit third-party apps.

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32-bit apps run just fine on 64-bit Windows. Just saying. – Graeme Donaldson Nov 18 at 18:09
except those with 64bit versions won't get installed, so you'd lose out on all the enhanced features (and then of course blame MS' crappy upgrade process) – Phoshi Nov 18 at 18:45
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The biggest problem is the drivers. For whatever reason, a lot of 3rd party software installs drivers as an incidental part of the application install and those 32bit drivers won't work on a 64bit OS.

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