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I am trying to figure out why 32 bit apps are being installed on Windows 8 64 bit. On my wife's PC, there are a number of 32 bit versions of popular applications that are installed where I would expect 64 bit versions to be used. How does a download page determine which version of Skype, for example, gets downloaded? Same problem with MS-Office and a few others.

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  • There isn't a 64-bit version of Skype. You would have to install a 64-but version of Office but it's available (just not the default). Only reason 32-but software is installed is because you installed the 32-bit version or there isn't a 64-bit version available of that particular program
    – Ramhound
    Aug 18, 2017 at 18:15

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For many software there just isn't a 64-bit version.

Often a 64-bit just doesn't add anything of value to the software. It would do exactly the same thing as the 32-bit version.
A 64-bit version doesn't happen by magic if you already have a 32-bit version. The developers still have to build, test and debug the 64-bit version separately and test corner-cases as 'what if the user already has the 32-bit version and tries to install the 64-bit as upgrade on top of it'.
Support needs to deal with both versions. Many customers who call support can't tell the difference and this will cause confusion.

So a 64-bit version isn't "free": All in all making a 64-bit version doesn't make much sense under those conditions.

There is an additional aspect to this as well. Specifically as you mention Microsoft Office.
That is compatibility with other software:

Office does have a 64-bit version which is mainly useful for Excel and Access whose 64-bit versions can deal with much larger files.
But at the same time many Office plug-ins and other add-on software made by other companies are 32-bit only and they will not work with the 64-bit Office programs. As these plugins are often very important for the users (especially in business settings, my own company Office has 12 of these plugins in Outlook alone and 7 in Word).
Microsoft even recommends using the 32-bit Office unless you have a real reason to use the 64-bit version of Office (like humongous Excel spread-sheets).

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  • Microsoft has moved to recommending 64-bit versions of Office recently. The most recent version of Office brought significant improvements to Excel when 64-bit is used.
    – Ramhound
    Aug 18, 2017 at 19:28
  • The software in question includes things like Skype that has a 64 bit version. I am trying to find out how downloads get selected. The OS is 64 bit but a 32 bit version was downloaded. What information from the PC is used when a download page selects the version to offer?
    – Ron
    Aug 19, 2017 at 7:20
  • @Ron That is determined by the web-site that offers the download. There is no general rule.
    – Tonny
    Aug 19, 2017 at 10:17
  • I am not sure that I am looking for a general rule. I am looking for actual cases that I can test/question for each product which has been incorrectly installed.
    – Ron
    Aug 20, 2017 at 16:29
  • I started to do a more detailed comparison of 2 PCs. One of the things that I have noticed is that Windews Task Manager throws the 32 bit apps right in your face whereas the Process Explorer displays this in a separate column. I have discovered that my sense that I was running 64 bit apps where she was running 32 is not as real as I had thought. Thanks for all of the comments.
    – Ron
    Aug 20, 2017 at 16:46
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One of the reasons that I found is that I had installed 32 bit versions many years ago and the internal update process updates the version installed and does not suggest or automatically install a 64 bit version when it becomes available.

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The computer was pre-installed by a computer shop or the manufacturer and they just installed the 32-bit version. Maybe because there arent any 64 bit ones, like mentioned in the previous post, they dont have a license for the 64-bit ones (sometimes the license is different) or they just decided.

32 bit applications have been made for a very long time, they are better, they cause less problems and it will be some time before everything works properly with 64 bit OSs and apps. 32 bit apps are compatible with everything and its much easier to install them on everything instead of having to switch.

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