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Thread poster: Heinrich Pesch
32 or 64 bit Windows 7?

Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 10:07
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
May 16, 2011

Hello everybody!
I'm thinking about buying a new laptop as my working computer. My Vista machine is 2.5 years old but still no problems.
On offer are mostly computers with Windows 7 Home 64 bit systems. Are there still compatibility problems with 64 bit Windows and state of the art applications like OpenOffice, MS Office, SDL STudio or Wordfast Pro?
Is the Home version enough for freelance translating?

Regards
Heinrich


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Debbi Steele  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:07
Member (2010)
French to English
+ ...
Fine for me May 16, 2011

I have a Windows 7 64-bit laptop, and it runs MS Office and Wordfast Classic fine - I don't use the other applications you mentioned, though, so I can't help with those. I have Home Premium and it's absolutely fine for my purposes - my other half has 7 Ultimate, and none of the extra features he told me about (which unfortunately I can't name off the top of my head!) seemed particularly relevant to me.

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Vadim Kadyrov  Identity Verified
Ukraine
Local time: 10:07
Member
English to Russian
+ ...
Compatibility of Trados 2007 and Windows 7 64 bit May 16, 2011

Trados 2007 works fine, Word 2007 works fine as well.

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Gudrun Wolfrath  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:07
Partial member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Hello Heinrich, May 16, 2011

I had the same worries, but everything works out fine. No problems with MS 2007 and Windows 7 (64 bit).

I did not even have to buy a new virus scanner.

I would recommend choosing 64 bit Windows, it is the future.

Gudrun


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IrimiConsulting  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 09:07
Member (2006)
English to Swedish
+ ...
Not a single problem May 16, 2011

I haven't encountered one single problem with any of my computers, both running 64-bit versions of Windows 7. The advantages of being able to use gigs and gigs of RAM are worth the upgrade.

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NilsB
Latvia
Local time: 10:07
Member
English to Latvian
+ ...
Everything should be fine May 16, 2011

Some very old software might not run (e.g. Trados 6.5). If you have updated all your CAT tools and have a recent version of Office, there should be no compatibility issues.

However, there is really no upside to having a 64-bit system other than the ability to use lots of RAM (more than 3,5 GB). Most applications still run in x86 (i.e. 32-bit) mode anyway. If your new laptop has 3 or 4 gigs of RAM and you don't plan to upgrade it, you would probably be better of with the 32-bit version. If you plan to install more RAM, get the 64-bit version.

Another tip - you might want to upgrade your old laptop from Vista to Windows 7. The difference in speed and responsiveness is remarkable.


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Steve Poynter  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:07
Member (2009)
German to English
Re: the version of Windows 7 May 16, 2011

I chose Windows 7 Ultimate, because that version (as well as Windows 7 Enterprise) features multiple language packs, a feature which I thought might come in handy. Having said that, I haven't used any of the other languages packs yet...

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Russell Jones  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:07
Member (2004)
Italian to English

MODERATOR
Minor problems May 17, 2011

The only thing that didn't work was DNS 9 and I've so far resisted replacing it with the latest version and am making do with the inbuilt Windows Speech Recognition.
Re. non translation software, there are limitations on the Genealogy software, Family Tree Maker (exporting pdfs etc.) but not enough to worry me.

After updating to IE9, I am currently having difficulties in getting Flashplayer to work, but it's fine in Firefox so not a major problem.


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32 or 64 bit Windows 7?






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