32-bit Operating System vs. 64-bit OS

Recently, I've heard the terms "32-bit OS" & "64-bit OS" thrown around quite a bit, never quite knowing what each meant. Well, it has been explained to me by the god's of Gizmodo.com. The picture below should sum it up quite briefly, for all you speed-readers out there.



First, a little background info:
I could go into detail, but I think it's best to keep it simple. Basically, the "power" of a computer is determined by the sum of its components. Two of the most important components are the Processor and the RAM. The higher the values of these two components, the more "powerful" your computer is (again- this is a huge oversimplification, but easy to take in).

Here's where the differences really shine:
32-bit OS allows only a certain amount of RAM- somewhere in the ballpark of 4Gigabytes. 64-bit OS, on the other hand, allow about 16 exabytes of RAM. That's 16 billion Terabytes (1 Terabyte = 1000 Gigabytes). While the numbers here are so astronomical that it's very difficult to grasp, you can hopefully see that 64-bit OS's leave room for vasts amount of RAM, which makes the computer much more "powerful."

Basically:
64-bit >>>>>>>>>>>>>> 32-bit

*Update:
As pointed out by a reader, I failed to mention a major piece of information. 64-bit OS's can (theoretically) perform TWICE as many calculations per second as 32-bit OS's. This adds to the main focus of the article: 64-bit>32-bit

Obama: The Era of Change

"...And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow..."

Obama's message sent shivers down my spine. Never in my lifetime have I been so hopeful that our nation's direction can change. For the bulk of my socially-conscious life, the world has hated the US. We've been called bullies (Kyoto Pact), tyrants (Iran), uncaring (Darfur), & selfish (Iraq) among other things.

Now however, the world looks at us differently. A Muslim-turned-Christian African American President... nothing shows America's willingness to change, to adapt, to grow, than this.

Time magazine recently ran "The World's View of Obama's Win." In this article, the leaders of nations such as France, South Africa, England, and Malaysia (to name a few) give their endorsements to Obama, and go on to reveal that each hoped Obama would win. Assuming the world's nations feel similarly to their leaders, America is on it's way to saving its name.