How to choose between 32-bit and 64-bit versions

[cyberdiva]

I have finally paid to upgrade my Softmaker Office 2016 to 2018 on my Windows 7 Pro desktop computer. However, I haven't yet installed 2018. I have two questions:

1) Should I first uninstall Softmaker Office 2016 to avoid any confusion?

2) I'm not sure whether to install the 32-bit version or the 64-bit version. Months ago, I asked about whether there was a good reason to install one version or the other (e.g., reliability, different features, etc.). The responses I received when I sent an email asking about this were so unclear that I decided to stay with 2016. However, I've now decided to move to 2018 and would be most grateful for a clear explanation of the differences between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Is there a reason to install the 64-bit version even if I don't tend to deal with huge files? Is one version less prone to problems than the other? I might add that I primarily use Textmaker, and on occasion Planmaker.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[martin-k]

1. You can keep 2016 installed, but I recommend uninstalling it, to avoid the old and new version fighting for file extensions.

2. The 64-bit version does everything the 32-bit version does, but has the advantage that it can access your PC's whole memory. 32-bit applications are limited to 2 GByte RAM. There is no reason to avoid the 64-bit version if your Windows is 64 bit.

[cyberdiva]

Thanks very much, Martin. Following your advice, I will uninstall the 2016 version and then install the 64-bit 2018.