Is it possible to install 64bit OSs (in this case the newly-released Fedora 17) on 32bit machines? I have a really old machine as well as some new remote servers that will be 64bit. To ensure an as consistent as possible set of setup steps and installation files between my machine and these servers, it would be nice if my machine could use 64bit applications, which would require a 64bit OS.

I came across this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension, and am wondering if it's what I'm looking for. Would I just pop the 64bit installation DVD into my 32bit machine and install, and everything would work fine?

If this is all even possible, are there potential pitfalls with running a system like this? Or is this even a stable technology worth using?

No

jlinkels

It can't be done. You can run a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit machine but not the other way around.

You skipped the very important detail of telling us about your hardware.

Here are the hardware requirements for Fedora: http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/...dware_Overview

Besides what the posters before me said (not, it is not possible), the setup steps should be the same on 32 and 64 bit machines. So you shouldn't have to care about the processor architecture.

Wasn't there some few 32 bit cpu's that had some odd 64 bit deal. It was possible to install some 64 bit OS's to those few cpu's if they had supported boards. I forget the name intel used. They only had them out for a few months as the whole idea kind of stunk.

As to interoperability between systems that may be a different issue. You still can choose a 32 bit install across the board if you wish. It is not mandatory to install 64 bit.