Difference between revisions of "32 bit"

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A ''32-bit'' processor is one that generally supports a word size of 2**32, where the constant "[[maxint]]" has the value 2**32-1, or 4,294,967,295.  It also means that programs and data spaces can be much larger than on the older 16-bit machines.   
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A '''32-bit''' processor is one that generally supports a word size of 2**32, where the constant "[[maxint]]" has the value 2**32-1, or 4,294,967,295.  It also means that programs and data spaces can be much larger than on the older 16-bit machines.  It also means that data space is much smaller than on current (2020) [[64 bit]] machines.
  
 
Examples of 32-bit processors include
 
Examples of 32-bit processors include
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*Motorola 68000 series (Macintosh)
 
*Motorola 68000 series (Macintosh)
  
The 32-bit processor type on the X86 (80386, <!-- spam -->, Pentium) added additional features including enhanced multiprocessing, which is why you can have several programs running simultaneously, and task-protection, which (supposedly) means that if one program crashes it doesn't take the whole system down with it. This behavior works more consistently on Linux than on Windows.
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The 32-bit processor type on the X86 (80386, <!-- spam -->, Pentium) added additional features including enhanced multiprocessing, which is why you can have several programs running simultaneously, and task-protection, which (supposedly) means that if one program crashes it doesn't take the whole system down with it. This behaviour works more consistently on Linux than on Windows.
  
 
Some 32-bit processors (X86) are enhancements of 16-bit processors, and generally can run 16-bit applications. The reverse, however, is not true; 32-bit code cannot run on a machine smaller than 32 bits.
 
Some 32-bit processors (X86) are enhancements of 16-bit processors, and generally can run 16-bit applications. The reverse, however, is not true; 32-bit code cannot run on a machine smaller than 32 bits.

Revision as of 12:56, 10 October 2020

A 32-bit processor is one that generally supports a word size of 2**32, where the constant "maxint" has the value 2**32-1, or 4,294,967,295. It also means that programs and data spaces can be much larger than on the older 16-bit machines. It also means that data space is much smaller than on current (2020) 64 bit machines.

Examples of 32-bit processors include

  • X86 microcomputer (WINTEL architecture)
  • Hewlett-Packard VAX mainframe/minicomputer
  • IBM 360/370 Mainframe series (now known as Z-series)
  • Motorola 68000 series (Macintosh)

The 32-bit processor type on the X86 (80386, , Pentium) added additional features including enhanced multiprocessing, which is why you can have several programs running simultaneously, and task-protection, which (supposedly) means that if one program crashes it doesn't take the whole system down with it. This behaviour works more consistently on Linux than on Windows.

Some 32-bit processors (X86) are enhancements of 16-bit processors, and generally can run 16-bit applications. The reverse, however, is not true; 32-bit code cannot run on a machine smaller than 32 bits.

See Also