question about win 7

[Calvin Walley]

i just bought a new computer that came with win 7 installed but i am confused why it came with 2 versions of ie , one a 64 bit and the other a 32 bit . i like the yahoo tool bar but it won't run on the 64 bit but will run on the 32 bit, also the 32 bit won't load my local tv news page but the 64 bit will ...what the hell is going on ?

[Dave Potter]

First off, I wouldn't use IE as my default browser for several reasons, security being the prime one. I'm likewise not a fan of Yahoo in any of its incarnations, but that's your call.

But, as to what will run on 32-vs-64 bit is more closely tied to your OS than your browser.

If, in fact, you have Win7 64-bit OS installed, 64-bit apps, as well as 32-bit apps, will run equally well - the OS will handle them both. The bottom line is that the Win7 OS will deal with either 32-bit or 64-bit apps, and it will be transparent to you, all other things being equal.

[Pete Nicholls]

I would add that if you want to run 64-bit browser extensions, you need to run a 64-bit browser

[Calvin Walley]

my question is why my old win XP with an ie version 5 would run both my local tv news site and yahoo tool bar but now i have to use two browsers to do what i used to do with just the old one
oh and i just checked , the new computer has a 64 bit os

[Pete Nicholls]

... Because your old XP computer was likely a 32-bit OS running 32-bit apps. The new computer is a 64-bit computer and it will run both 32-bit and 64-bit software. You need to look at the software you want to use for browsing to see if it is 32 or 64-bit, then use the lowest common denominator. If you have one extension that you can't do without and it is only available as 32-bit, then use all 32-bit. If everything is available in 64-bit, then set your 64-bit browser as the default and you should be all set.

[Calvin Walley]

thanks