No, it’s not about wearing two pairs of boots at the same time. It is a computer start-up term. I have been doing it for quite some time, almost since I started playing with computers in the dark ages. What it means is that a computer is set up with two (or more) operating systems and at the time of starting up the computer, the operator has a choice as to what (which) operating system (OS) is desired.
Most of the time I was playing with Linux OS and was also running windows on the same computer. Linux has always had a way to dual or multi boot. Almost any computer (with enough space) can have two (or more) operating systems. Even if it is just different versions of the same OS. In Apple Macintosh computers with OS-X they call the program that does this, “boot camp”.
In my case I found a free program called EasyBCD that sets up any Windows OS for multi-boot. What I wanted (and just did) was to set up my AMD 64 bit computer to run both 32 and 64 bit Vista. Both versions came with my Vista Ultimate Edition but I originally only installed the 32 bit version on my 64 bit dual processor computer.
That was because (even now) almost no real software exists that will take advantage of the 64 bit address space. Finding 32 bit drivers for Vista (at that time) was bad enough. Forget finding 64 bit drivers back then. I didn’t realize I couldn’t access the full 4 Gigs of RAM I installed. (The 32 bit OS “sees” the 4 Gig but 32 bit software can’t address it all because the OS needs the highest addressed part for its own use.)
Now that Vista has some maturity, The 64 bit edition loaded without problem but it did take quite some time to find and upload all the updates. My version is an early edition. Like I said, I had a heck of a time finding drivers when I originally installed the 32 bit OS. No sweat now with the 64 bit install.
Both systems look the same when running (I do use a different background in each) but otherwise there is no way to tell without digging in to see which is running. The 64 bit OS runs 32 bit programs in an emulator. It keeps the 32 bit programs in a special separate folder. I do not detect any degradation in performance of 32 bit programs and they may even be running faster.
At this writing I don’t intend to convert this machine over to pure 64 bit Vista. This is a test. If I was building a new computer I would definately install 64 bit Vista and probably a quad processor.
What I gained with the 64 bit OS was (finally) full access to my 4 Gigs of RAM. I am seeing new motherboards with 8 to 16 Gigs available. That’s what you really gain is more access to RAM. When 64 bit software hits the streets, it will likely be in games and video entertainment, anything in high end graphics viewing and editing.
For Blog writing… am I using a 32 or 64 Bit OS? Ha!