Hello Wimpy is ISV a Linux distro also?
Independent Software Vendor
LOL thanks Wimpy I was not sure, Hey I wanted to ask you your title says Project leader would that be Mate? Are you the project manager for Mate distribution?
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Thanks so much Alpinejohn itās nice to he him involved with in this community also
Heeehā¦ the thing is that not everyone is able (money-wise) to buy 64-bit machines to replace their older ones :c
Yes this is true but really itās 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 Iām 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 ;)).
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As a daily user, not a developer or programmer, I donāt really mind moving to 64-bit from 32-bit - Iām 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. Whatās needed is either a migration tool, or a HOW-TO that can walk people through migrating architectures. Ideally itād be āinstall this package and itāll walk you through itā. However, even something like āinstall this package and itāll do the prep work, then download the 64-bit ISO and reboot from it - the installer will migrate you overā would work.
Thatās not a bad deal at all. Thereās 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 itās quite advanced, would end up with a mess and is entirely unsupported. 
It might be possible to use the installation option āReinstall Ubuntu but keep my personal filesā on the 64-bit install medium ā this might also keep applications too (should they have a i386-equivalent), but I havenāt tried it.
A fresh install is strongly recommended when switching an existing system from 32-bit (i386) to 64-bit (amd64). Itās not technically a 1:1 process.
Be sure to back up your important files and optionally make a system image!
Other answers:
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Actually, I downloaded the 64-bit iso, burned it and booted it. Figured Iād 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 whatās missing is in the repositories, so re-adding things is pretty simple.
For a basic PC, nothing heavily customized, it did a great job. Iād hate to do it with a dev workstation thoughā¦
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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 arenāt worried about their security!. 
Chromium browser will continue to have 32 bit support!. 
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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
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I wholeheartedly agree with marfig on pretty much all counts, and Iām 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.
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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 donāt need to (or canāt 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.
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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. Donāt 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, donāt 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 donāt throw away a past that brought us here.
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Hello Frey42, Itās 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 donāt think the 32-bit will complete gone Iān sure there will be a few Linux distributors that will keep it going for sometime yet
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