[CentOS] Troubles for an non-IT beginner

[Nico Kadel-Garcia]

On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 12:31 PM, Parshwa Murdia <b330bkn at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 5:02 PM, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:
>
>> > i386 is for older technology PCs. The x86_64 is for newer PCs
>
> How can I know that I have to use i386 or x86_64, my machine is not very new
> though.
>
>
>>
>> The x86_64 release takes two DVDs, but the second DVD just has
>> OpenOffice language packs.
>
> It would be great if you get me the direct link like amongst
> http://ftp.iitm.ac.in/centos/5.5/isos/i386/ which one? Further, without
> knowledge only, it took only one CD when I downloaded Fedora, here more than
> one CD is there? We cannot do it later by using some command like yum.
> Please elaborate.

x86_64 is the common set of configurations and libraries for 64-bit
computers. You should be able to look up the model number of your
computer, or the motherboard and BIOS at boot time. Or you can grab a
live CD, such as the CentOS 5.4 or Ubuntu live CD, and boot with the
64-bit live CD to determine if it's compatible with your system.

If you can, use 64-bit operating systems. There are some lingering
compatibility issues, but you can make much more full use of your
hardware with a 64-bit operating system, and virtualize a 32-bit
operating sytem if you need it. You cannot do the reverse.

There are other architectures, which a home PC is unlikely to have.
These include ARM (common in some fascinating netbooks and
smartphones) and sparc (no longer in production, Sun computers got
bought).