Advantages & Disadvantages of Microsoft Office 2010 64-Bit Version

 

Microsoft has documented the advantages & disadvantages of installing Microsoft Office 2010 64-Bit Version.

Advantages - Running Office 2010 64-bit provides the following advantages:

 

• Ability to utilize additional memory.
• Excel 2010 can load much larger workbooks. Excel 2010 made updates to use 64-bit memory addressing to break out of the 2-GB addressable memory boundary that limits 32-bit applications.
• Microsoft Project 2010 provides improved capacity, especially when you are dealing with many subprojects to a large project.
• Enhanced default security protections through Hardware Data Execution Prevention (DEP).

 

Disadvantages - The following issues might affect compatibility:

 

• Microsoft Access MDE/ADE/ACCDE files – Databases that have had their source code removed (such as .mde, .ade, and .accde files) cannot be moved between 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Office 2010. Such databases that are created by using 32-bit Office (any version) can be used only with 32-bit Office, and a database that is created on 64-bit Office can be used only on 64-bit Office.

• ActiveX controls and COM Add-ins – ActiveX controls and add-in (COM) DLLs (dynamic link libraries) that were written for 32-bit Office will not work in a 64-bit process. As a result, Office 2010 64-bit solutions that try to load 32-bit ActiveX controls or DLLs will not work.

  In addition to controls that load into Office applications, there are also Web-based solutions that use ActiveX controls in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Office 2010 64-bit editions install Office 32-bit clientside controls for supporting Web solutions in a browser. The workaround for resolving these issues is to obtain 64-bit compatible controls and add-ins or to install Office 2010 32-bit (WOW).

• Office Graphics (OArt) - For Excel integration, conversion of OLE, form controls, and ActiveX to CompatE2os in Excel 2010, some controls are not available in 64-bit Office 2010. An example is the Microsoft Date and Time Picker Control 6.0 (SP4), which is accessed on the Excel 2010 Developer tab, by clicking Insert, and selecting More Controls under ActiveX Controls section.

  Graphics rendering. There are differences between the 32-bit and 64-bit Graphics Device Interface (GDI) that might have performance implications because of the lack of MMX support on 64-bit. Intel’s MMX technology is an extension of the Intel architecture (IA) instruction set. The technology uses a single-instruction, multiple-data (SIMD) technique to speed up multimedia and communications software by processing data elements in parallel.

• Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) - VBA code that uses the Declare statement to access the Windows application programming interface (API) or other DLL entry points will see differences between 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The Declare statement must be updated with the PtrSafe attribute after inputs and outputs to the API have been reviewed and updated. Declare statements will not work in 64-bit VBA without the PtrSafe attribute. New data types are added to 64-bit Office 2010 VBA: LongLong and LongPtr.

 

General Feature Deprecations - The following section lists feature deprecations:

 

• Microsoft Access - The Replication Conflict Viewer is removed from both the 32-bit and 64-bit installations of Office 2010.  This functionality can still be implemented by using a documented custom function, ReplicationConflictFunction. For information, see the Access 2007 Developer Reference.
• Publisher - The Microsoft Works database converter (wdbimp.dll) is removed from both 32-bit and 64-bit installations of Office 2010. This converter was previously used in the Mail Merge functionality to connect to a data source created in Microsoft Works.
• Word - Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI) and all its components are deprecated for both 32-bit and 64-bit Office 2010. The legacy Equation Editor is not supported on 64-bit Office 2010, but is supported for 32-bit Office 2010 installations (WOW64).  WLL (Word Add-in libraries) WLL files are deprecated for both 32-bit and 64-bit Office 2010. A WLL is an add-in for Microsoft Word that you can build with any compiler that supports building DLLs.

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