Going forward, only 64-bit drivers would be released

Oct 26, 2018 05:04 GMT  ·  By

AMD has recently confirmed that no new drivers for 32-bit versions of Windows would be released, a move that rival NVIDIA has also announced earlier this year.

The company would no longer publish updates for its 32-bit drivers, and the latest supported build is 18.9.3, which was officially released last month.

AMD says users can continue running 32-bit drivers on their systems just like before, though without updates this advice doesn’t make much sense. However, the firm says, switching to 64-bit should be a priority for everyone, especially for those particularly interested in gaming.

“AMD Radeon Software support for x32-bit Windows operating systems has been moved to a legacy support mode--we are not planning to support x32-bit Windows operating systems in future driver releases. This change enables AMD to dedicate valuable engineering resources to developing new features and enhancements for graphic s products based on the latest x64-bit Windows based operating systems,” the company told Japanese website 4Gamer.

Just a few customers affected

“Users can continue to use existing x32-bit drivers if they so choose. However, for those who are passionate about gaming and want to continue receiving the best of Radeon Software features and performance, we recommend they consider upgrading to a x64-bit Windows operating system.”

AMD’s decision to focus entirely on 64-bit drivers shouldn’t impact too many users, as the number of devices powered by 32-bit Windows is believed to be rather small.

As Neowin notes, Steam data shows only some 2 percent of the gamers run 32-bit Windows on their computers, and the figures include all versions of the operating system, not just Windows 10.

Without a doubt, moving to 64-bit Windows is a thing that everyone should consider not necessarily right now, but on the long term, as more and more companies become committed to this version of the OS entirely.