Stable 64-Bit Raspberry Pi OS Goes Official: Here Is Why It's Better Than 32-Bit

| Updated: Thursday, February 10, 2022, 17:35 [IST]

Raspberry Pi is an affordable compact credit card-sized PC. The company has now released the official and stable version of the 64-bit Raspberry Pie OS, which is now available for download for free on the Raspberry Pie official website.

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The 64-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS is available in two variations -- the Raspberry Pi OS with desktop, which is around 1.1GB in size, and the Raspberry Pi OS Lite, which is around 450MB in size. Do note that, you can still download the 32-bit version of the Raspberry Pi OS, which is useful for the older variants of the Raspberry Pi hardware.

Advantages Of 64-Bit Raspberry Pi OS

There are several advantages of running a 64-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS instead of a 32-bit version, and one such advantage is RAM support. Officially, a 32-bit OS can only support up to 4GB RAM. Although there are a few workarounds to support more than 4GB RAM for certain tasks, they are not official and might not work with all the software and tools.

When it comes to 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, it can support up to 16 exabytes of RAM. So, if you own a Raspberry Pi with more than 4GB of RAM, you should consider the 64-bit version of the Raspberry Pi OS rather than the 32-bit version.

Installing the 64-bit version of the Raspberry Pi OS, especially on modern hardware like the Raspberry Pi 4, which offers up to 8GB of RAM will improve the capabilities of the hardware and will let you do more without any hacks or workarounds.

Another important advantage of running a 64-bit version of the Raspberry Pi OS over 32-bit is the fact that you can run both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the third-party software natively. As more and more developers are only releasing their software and tool in 64-bit, your Raspberry Pi computer with 64-bit OS will be capable of supporting the same.

How To Download 64-Bit Raspberry Pi OS?

The 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS is currently available on the official website for free of cost. You can download the same on your computer and then install the same on a Raspberry Pi computer using a microSD card slot. On top of that, you can also buy microSD cards with built-in 64-bit Raspberry Pi from first-party sellers.