Yes this is true but really it’s not that hard to get your hands on a 64 bit machine. I have places here in FLorida were they sell recycled machines in great condition and they have 2 to 4-GB of RAM 250 GB hard drive for $40.00 with no OS on it all I have to do is load Ubuntu up on it and I’m in busniess
I (unfortunately) live in France, and I do not think we have anything like that 
Maybe you should find some French Linux groups and ask if such places exist. 
@utybo
This French online store sells refurbished PCs, I saw 64 bit capable machines for around 70 EUR there, even including a Windows 7 Pro license (should one absolutely need one ;)).
3 Likes
As a daily user, not a developer or programmer, I don’t really mind moving to 64-bit from 32-bit - I’m only using 32-bit because my original install was 32-bit, many releases ago. (Debian 3? Something like that)
An hour or so of Google shows me that the last time people did any writing on the subject was before multiarch came out. What’s needed is either a migration tool, or a HOW-TO that can walk people through migrating architectures. Ideally it’d be “install this package and it’ll walk you through it”. However, even something like “install this package and it’ll do the prep work, then download the 64-bit ISO and reboot from it - the installer will migrate you over” would work.
That’s not a bad deal at all. There’s a lot of places that sells cheap machines 64 bit.
A migration tool upgrading from 32-bit to 64-bit might be a bad idea, since it’s quite advanced, would end up with a mess and is entirely unsupported. 
It might be possible to use the installation option “Reinstall Ubuntu but keep my personal files” on the 64-bit install medium – this might also keep applications too (should they have a i386-equivalent), but I haven’t tried it.
A fresh install is strongly recommended when switching an existing system from 32-bit (i386) to 64-bit (amd64). It’s not technically a 1:1 process.
Be sure to back up your important files and optionally make a system image!
Other answers:
1 Like
Actually, I downloaded the 64-bit iso, burned it and booted it. Figured I’d see about installing in parallel, then migrate over. Ran a backup first, then tried the Reinstall option. (Figured why not?) It migrated some apps and settings - nothing from a PPA (like Google apps), and not much that I had added afterwards, but a fair whack moved over, as did my home contents. Most of what’s missing is in the repositories, so re-adding things is pretty simple.
For a basic PC, nothing heavily customized, it did a great job. I’d hate to do it with a dev workstation though…
2 Likes
One small problem I forgot to mention earlier Tom is that things like Google Chrome have dropped 32 bit support so anyone wanting to use that particular browser is out of luck unless they aren’t worried about their security!. 
Chromium browser will continue to have 32 bit support!. 
1 Like
Hi Wolfman I was a bit surprise Google drop the support for the 32 bit Chrome browser I am currently using Chromium works for me
1 Like
I wholeheartedly agree with marfig on pretty much all counts, and I’m afraid that dropping 32bit would be a deal-breaker for me.
Even though my main hardware is 64bit, I prefer to run a 32bit OS on it because in my experience it runs better and lighter.
1 Like
I am sorry to hear that Ubuntu will be dropping 32 bit ISOs. I have just resurrected two 32 bit systems, one laptop and one desktop, that are no longer supported by MS. If I had not done this, they probably would wind up in a landfill in some third world country. I have been encouraging others in the same predicament to do the same. I am sure there are many more people in the third world that could also use Ubuntu for the same reason. They don’t need to (or can’t afford to) buy new 64 bit systems. I thought the whole idea behind Ubuntu was to enable people to continue to use their older systems. The more computers we can keep running and out of landfills the better. Yes, new is nice and I would encourage Ubuntu to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible. But it sure is nice to see these 32 bit systems fly under Ubuntu.
4 Likes
I am 74 years old and have been using computers before most of you were born. I met Bill Joy at a conference in SF, I used Unix in the university, at work and at customer sites; but the world shifted to MS for an obvious reason, ease.
Before 32 bit was 16 bit, was 8 bit, I had to toggle in the boot code to find the paper tape reader, to find the 11" tape drive to load the OS, to load the program. BTW I used an audio tape deck to store my programs for a KIM-1 board with 1K of memory. I HAVE history.
I would imagine over 80% of the world uses 32bit computers. Don’t hamstring them just because 20% uses 64bit. Give them a chance to take our old, tired, low resource computers and move forward. Them, not you; help them, don’t shut them out.
BTW, I am attempting to install MATE on my old tired Compaq nx6325 and this was the first topic that grabbed my attention. Progress is great, but don’t throw away a past that brought us here.
9 Likes
Hello Frey42, It’s great to see someone with so much knowledge and wisdom thanks for sharing it with us. Ubuntu is moving forward like so many others but I don’t think the 32-bit will complete gone I’n sure there will be a few Linux distributors that will keep it going for sometime yet
1 Like
I just wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone for sharing their thoughts with the community. I think most of us feel the same way about the 32-bit distro and lets just hope they will keep it around with that said, technology keeps changing and we must adapt also
1 Like
Thanks Robert.
I hate to see all the young, coming up, possible, programmers be locked out due to an attitude that 32 must die so 64 can flourish.
Tasking a newcomer with all the command line and headache of having a system at a unreasonable price is not encouragement, it is discouragement.
The price to program in the MS world is exhoratent; in the Linux world it is very, very reasonable. Ubuntu will need some of those fresh, out of the box, brains in the very near future. Don’t shut them out.
Without them, Apple would have never existed. IMO, Apple and Visi-Calc brought the PC to the home, through the backdoor of the business market. Witness all the talent we have seen flourish.
1 Like
I have to agree with on that MS is very costly I’ve been using computers about 17 years now and I’m gradually moving away from Windows, I have about 5 machines setup up and all of them are running Linux, only one is a dual boot and I hardly boot it into Windows. May open source live for ever
1 Like
3 years later from this discussion, Ubuntu announced they will begin to phase out i386 support, starting from 19.10.
Dropping i386 (which may include the ability to run 32-bit applications) is slightly different to discontinuing the 32-bit ISO, and has a much more significant impact to the ecosystem. The conversation continues here if you're interested: