Back to basics #4 – Things You Shouldn't Do But Are Tempted To

re: Back to basics #4 – Things You Shouldn't Do But Are Tempted To

Charlie Chen (MCS) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:26:07 GMT

Office 2010 introduces native 64-bit versions of Office products to support 64-bit processors. Office 2010 also provides support for 32-bit Office 2010 applications that run on 64-bit Windows operating systems by using Windows-32-on-Windows-64 (WOW64). However, the version of Office 2010 to install should not be simply dependent on the Operating System architecture of a master image.

Microsoft makes direct recommendations on TechNet <technet.microsoft.com/.../ee681792.aspx> for which version of Office 2010 to install (as well as specific advantages and disadvantages):

• If users in your organization depend on existing extensions to Office, such as ActiveX controls, third-party add-ins, in-house solutions built on previous versions of Office, or 32-bit versions of programs that interface directly with Office, we recommend that you install 32-bit Office 2010 (the default installation) on computers that are running both 32-bit and 64-bit supported Windows operating systems.

• If some users in your organization are Excel expert users who work with Excel spreadsheets that are larger than 2 gigabytes (GB), they can install the 64-bit edition of Office 2010. In addition, if you have in-house solution developers, we recommend that those developers have access to the 64-bit edition of Office 2010 so that they can test and update your in-house solutions on the 64-bit edition of Office 2010.

Additional guidance is also given on MSDN <msdn.microsoft.com/.../ee691831(office.14).aspx>:

When should I use the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office?

This is more a matter of which host application (Excel, Word, and so forth) you are using. For example, Excel is able to handle much larger worksheets with the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office.

Generally, it is recommended to install Office 2010 32-bit as part of a master image for performance advantages, unless there is a requirement for users to work with large files larger than 2GB.

And ugh, dangling prepositions.

re: Back to basics #4 – Things You Shouldn't Do But Are Tempted To

Charlie Chen (MCS) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:56:40 GMT

Microsoft makes direct recommendations on TechNet <link> for which version of Office 2010 to install (as well as specific advantages and disadvantages):

Additional guidance is also given on MSDN <link>:

When should I use the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office?

This is more a matter of which host application (Excel, Word, and so forth) you are using. For example, Excel is able to handle much larger worksheets with the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office.

Generally, it is recommended to install Office 2010 32-bit as part of a master image for performance advantages, unless there is a requirement for users to work with large files larger than 2GB.

re: Back to basics #4 – Things You Shouldn't Do But Are Tempted To

DanielOxley — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:07:50 GMT

Good idea, I'll make that the next one!

re: Back to basics #4 – Things You Shouldn't Do But Are Tempted To

C.Barrett — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:52:21 GMT

That's a great list Daniel - any chance of a similar small list stating "The things you really should do"...?

Not using a domain admin account as your build account for example...stuff like that?

Thanks