On 8/6/2015 11:28 AM, Jim Thompson wrote:
I'm getting the general impression that I should avoid 64-bit to make
sure that my legacy programs will still work. Is that correct?

No. The advice is to be aware that some things may *not* work as
they previously did (esp things that need "drivers" -- like peripherals).

Everyone always claims that the upgrade is uneventful -- yet I always
seem to end up losing *some* capability along the way (but, I tend
to run a very wide variety of software and peripherals -- it's
implied that it's *my* fault that I lost some capability that I *should*?
have lost previously?).

Note that you can choose to run (some) 32b OS's on 64b hardware -- you
just lose the benefits of that 64b hardware.

You can also run 32b software on a "guest" OS (under VMware, etc.).

AND, you can also keep your old machine in a closet for a week or
two until you decide it's safe to discard it! :

You may be surprised to discover that your "computer experience" isn;t
as remarkably faster, cleaner, more efficient than you would have
*guessed* (hoped) on that newer/faster machine! : This is called
PROGRESS!