Which version to install - LabVIEW 32-bit or 64-bit

[Gurdas]

Hello,

Should I install LabVIEW Professional 32-bit or 64-bit on my development computer? Based on what I read/understood, I should install the 32-bit version, but want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

Development computer: Intel Core i5-4300U, x64-based processor, 8 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
Target computer for application: Intel Atom Z3775, x64-based processor, 2 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 32-bit

Initially, I will be using LabVIEW Professional to develop the application. I will use the Application Builder to create an installer for the target computer. In near future I WILL add features from the Report Generation Toolkit. In a distant future, I MAY add features from Database Connectivity Toolkit.

I found these helpful:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/71E9408E6DEAD76C8625760B006B6F98?

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/14281/en/

Regards,
Gurdas

[natasftw]

The page you linked shows you the Report Generation Toolkit is only compatible with 32-bit LabVIEW.  That should answer the question for you.

[Gurdas]

Thanks. I had noticed that, but another page, for Windows 7, shows RGT is available in 64-bit.

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/10383/en/

So, it may be that it will become available in 64-bit for Windows 8, too, at some point. Other reasons for going with 32-bit?

[Jacobson-ni]

To clear things up, you should be able to install Report Generation Toolkit for 64-bit LabVIEW.

http://www.ni.com/download/labview-report-generation-toolkit-for-microsoft-office-2014/5006/en/

That said, I usually recommend using 32-bit LabVIEW unless you are developing an appliction where the user is running a 64-bit OS.  It just makes everything easier if you end up wanting to use another toolkit down the road.

[natasftw]

Well hell Matt, it looks like you should get that updated then.  Although, the Database Connectivity shows as unsupported for both.

Unless you're working with visual applications, there's rarely a reason to move to 64-bit.  32-bit is more fully supported and you're not really gaining any performance by moving to 64-bit.

The real question isn't "why would I install 32-bit?"  You should be asking why you'd want to move to 64-bit.  As you haven't posed anything that begins to explain why you'd want to do so, it's a pretty easy answer.

[comrade]

I want to post my views here concerning this matter as I use both "Bit"ness versions frequently. These views come from my personal experiences and do not repeat or contradict any of the the reasons or advantages mentioned by any of the above posts.

• 32-bit LabVIEW is the only way of using 32-bit-compiled DLLs. These are sometimes still used in APIs for third-party hardware. You simply can't use those DLLs in 64-bit LabVIEW. The same thing in reverse is true for 64-bit-compiled DLLs.
• 32-bit LabVIEW is more widely supported for localization, meaning you can get installers for several languages. The number of different localizations of LabVIEW 64-bit is limited. I personally can only find the native English installer.
• 64-bit LabVIEW is almost compulsory when starting to develop medium- to large-sized vision applications or handling large data sets. Even on a 64-bit OS 32-bit LabVIEW (and all other 32-bit compiled software) suffers from the limit of 4 GB addressable RAM. I might not have the most efficient way to program vision applications but usually you'll end up with quite a bit more data in memory than you might have thought. So if you are unsure whether you might run into a memory problem sooner or later while your software evolves, you might want to consider 64-bit LabVIEW.

You can always communicate between 32-bit and 64-bit LabVIEW using VI Server, so one can actually implement every bit of code in the bitness version that best suits the respective functionality.

[nathand]

Why is everyone making this complicated? The poster wrote that the target computer is running a 32-bit OS. Since LabVIEW doesn't support cross-compiling, the only option is to use the 32-bit version of the development environment.

[comrade]

As the thread title reads "Which version to install - LabVIEW 32-bit or 64-bit" I thought it a nice place to share my experience concerning this very issue. Sorry if this is confusing anyone.

[Gurdas]

These are all useful comments. Thanks, everyone!

Having such details will lead to more informed decisions. Yes, the current target machine has a 32-bit OS, but one of the questions in my mind has been "What benefits are possible from choosing a tablet with a 64-bit OS, that would have allowed me to use 64-bit LabVIEW on the development machine?" This is a commercial application and we are getting ready to ship the first measurement system with a paired tablet . But there will be future shipments, so I wanted to understand if going forward we should choose tablets with 64-bit OS. My application is NOT resource intensive, in terms of computing power, memory, and harddrive.

Couple other questions that come to mind:

1. Will NI continue to support 32-bit and 64-bit equally or we expect 64-bit to start taking priority. For example, in recent years, 64-bit versions of Windows have become more visible. The processors are almost always 64-bit now, so any shift expected in what NI will push more in coming years?

2. If I run 32-bit LabVIEW on a 64-bit OS, is there any performance compromise due to WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit), compared to running a 32-bit LabVIEW on a native 32-bit Windows OS?

From all that I have read here, it seems the 32-bit version of LabVIEW is more accepted currently and will continue to be so for next 5 years. Thus, it seems the default choice should be 32-bit, leaving the 64-bit option for only those cases where there are specific compelling reasons to go with 64-bit.

[crossrulz]

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Gurdas wrote:

1. Will NI continue to support 32-bit and 64-bit equally or we expect 64-bit to start taking priority. For example, in recent years, 64-bit versions of Windows have become more visible. The processors are almost always 64-bit now, so any shift expected in what NI will push more in coming years?

2. If I run 32-bit LabVIEW on a 64-bit OS, is there any performance compromise due to WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit), compared to running a 32-bit LabVIEW on a native 32-bit Windows OS?

From all that I have read here, it seems the 32-bit version of LabVIEW is more accepted currently and will continue to be so for next 5 years. Thus, it seems the default choice should be 32-bit, leaving the 64-bit option for only those cases where there are specific compelling reasons to go with 64-bit.

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1.  I would say that 32-bit currently has more support.  I mostly say that due to the toolkits, most of which are not supported in LabVIEW 64-bit.

2.  I have not noticed any perforance issues of running 32-bit programs on a 64-bit machine.  The corporate IT system causes a lot more degradation of performance than WoW64.

So my advice is to just stick with the 32-bit LabVIEW since it will be able to run on either system you choose.