dear guys,

i got me a new laptop with core i7-3520m and intel hd 4000 graphics.
now i want to install slackware 13.37 on it.

i am using the 32bit on my 32bit computer and dont have any problems with it.
now i am not sure which version i should choose for my notebook.

i have seen that people have troubles with some programs because they dont run on 64bit.

what would you suggest me?

64-bit software runs faster than 32-bits and can use more than 4 GiB of RAM, also x86_64 is backwards compatible with x86, so the only reason a 32-bit program won't run on a 64-bit system is because it can't find the libraries. Slackware 13.37 has multilib packages available; this will allow installation of 32-bit libraries on a 64-bit system.
I see no reason not to use the 64-bit version.

Note if you install slackware64 and want to use 32 bit programs. You have to download the multilib packages and install them.

Just for completeness, as mentioned by whizje, you will need the multilib package to run those 32bit programs that you cannot live without. You will find a complete and thorough guide to install and let your system multilib-ready from AlienBob's How-to and wiki:

http://slackware.com/~alien/multilib/

http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/...kware:multilib

Although they could seem a bit extensive and detailed, these guides will take you in a jiffy into a 64bit Slackware fully 32bit-compatible.

"i am using the 32bit on my 32bit computer and dont have any problems with it."

Don't fix what ain't broke.

Something to consider if you install x86-64 and intend to run multilib and follow -current is that keeping your 32 bit libs up to date takes some time

How much RAM do you have? I've mentioned this before elsewhere, but I'd go 64-bit if you have >= 4GB RAM (either installed or planning to install very soon,) else just stick with 32-bit.

Third-party 32-bit software can be run on Slackware64 via AlienBOB's multilib packages, but I usually prefer to keep 64-bit only and just find 64-bit versions of that software (only to install multilib when absolutely necessary, which I haven't really run into yet.)

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Make it simple you want the best of both worlds dual boot them. yes a 32 and a 64. simple. I run Alien Bob's Multi Lib's on my 64. that said hey you know what on the heavy coffee days been known to upgrade things and bork my 32 bit programs not a big deal little more work..
The 2.6.36.7 kernel can be recompiled to use 64 gigs of ram ok recompile it and have fun. run Slk64-current Multi-lib then I would recommend keeping a couple mirrors of it in different stages or progression on my hard drive to back step if needed. Again it is all the same speed it just can do it in different ways. PAE been around a long time. I have a custom distro for vurtual worlds that is rebuild of Slacko Puppylinux and my wife Loves her AMD 6core 16 gigs of ram as puppy loves to run there. it fast blinding fast and runs cool. for a 32 bit O/S.

traveling twice the speed of sound it is easy to get burned

A good rule nowadays seems to be "Unless you have a serious reason to go 32bit, go 64bit".

Some cpu intensive programs like ffmpeg are quite faster due to larger (and more registers) and of course apps can access all the memory without tricks. So you gain some advantages without losing anything.

In early 64bit times, many programs were poorly coded and didn't work well in 64bit where int and pointers have different sizes but nowadays every opensource program works fine on 64bit. For the few packages that either are closed sourced like skype or need 32bit like wine, you can use AlienBOB's excellent multilib packages.

What programs have you seen not working on 64bit ?

If the cpu is 64bit then there isn't much reason to go 32bit nowadays. 64bit isn't useful only with >4GB RAM. In these posts, Linus explains the way virtual memory works and argues that 64bit is a necessity for >1GB RAM

thanks for your replies. I have 8gb ram and chose the 64bit version

That were really interesting topics, thanks, even if rather hard to understand ^^

In fact, a 64bits OS is not only useful for computers that have more than 1GB of RAM, but also if you have programs that may use more than 1GB of RAM. And that's not hard to reach even with Firefox (addons + plenty of open tabs).