A friend came by the other day. He is planning to buy a new laptop and he wanted my advice. He’s an avid gamer and wants to get the fastest machine he can afford. He travels several months out of the year and needs a laptop. The three computers on his short list all run 64-bit processors. His first question to me was, “What is a 64-bit processor and why should I care?”

Let’s get the techie stuff out of the way first. The two types of processors (also called CPUs) generally used in today’s PCs are either 32-bit or 64-bit architecture. The number of bits determines how much memory (RAM) your computer can work with. A 32-bit processor can access 232 bits, or roughly 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. A 64-bit processor is able to access 264 bits, which generates a number my calculator can’t even display. But it’s plenty — for now anyway.

The 64-bit processor has been around since at least the 1970s. Some gaming consoles like the Nintendo 64 and the Sony PlayStation 2 adopted the 64-bit processor in the mid-1990s. Around 2003, Apple was one of the first to introduce 64-bit processors to consumers with their G5 processor. AMD and Intel were not far behind.

For the most part, Windows-based personal computers have used 32-bit processors simply because the idea of more than 1 or 2 GB of RAM in a PC was pretty far-fetched. In fact early versions of Windows didn’t support more than 1 GB of RAM. However the price of RAM has fallen and the demands of today’s software — especially games — have increased.

In the past consumers had to hunt for high-powered personal computers with 64-bit processors and then purchase special versions of Windows and other programs to run on them. Just a couple of years ago, there were only a handful of games and applications that would run on a 64-bit PC. It was fairly common to get a call from someone who bought a new PC with a 64-bit processor who couldn’t run Microsoft Office, QuickBooks or even the Mozilla Firefox browser. Even Microsoft’s Vista 64-bit operating system had issues running some 32-bit software.

With the arrival of Microsoft’s Windows 7, true 64-bit functionality is coming to the forefront. There are fewer complaints of problems running 32-bit applications and more software developers are creating applications that take advantage of the power of the 64-bit processor. However, there is still a development curve to be overcome. I’m sure it won’t be long before hardware and software will be utilizing 8 GB of RAM or more (Windows 7 supports anywhere from 8 GB of RAM in its Home Basic version to 192 GB in its Professional versions).

The bottom line: buying a 64-bit computer with Windows 7 shouldn’t complicate your life too much, but do a little research before you make the leap if you have any existing software you plan to install. Most likely everything will be fine, but check the software manufacturer’s website and do some online research to see if anyone else has had problems running it on a 64-bit computer. A gaming machine with 8 GB of RAM (or more) is probably a good investment. The gaming market will most likely be the first to make the most of 64-bit power.

My friend is now trying to order his new 64-bit Windows 7 laptop with a 17-inch screen and 8 GB RAM. The only problem is he can’t find it in stock. It looks like this 64-bit thing might be catching on already.

Sven Mogelgaard is the owner of Mill Creek-based Byte Slaves Inc. (www.byteslaves.com) and can be reached by calling 425-482-9529.