On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 12:31 PM, Parshwa Murdia b330bkn@gmail.com wrote:
On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 5:02 PM, Robert Heller heller@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).