If you have some old machines at home or your workplace, then you might probably know the importance of having 32-bit operating systems around. One of the areas where Linux has had an edge over other operating systems such as Windows and Mac OS X is its support for old machines using 32-bit Intel processors. Additionally, Linux enables old machines having small amounts of RAM to work at a better speed compared to Windows or Mac OSX.
You have probably come across headlines such as “breath new life into an old machine using Linux” or “bring an old computer to life using Ubuntu Linux” and so on, when it comes to restoration of or bringing to life old computers, many users have always used Ubuntu 32-bit desktop or server operating system.
In the past few years, Ubuntu Linux has been unbeatable in offering comprehensive support for old and outdated computer hardware, without eschewing productivity and reliability. Ubuntu has always enabled efficient use of old computer hardware.
But as the years go by, new software has been developed that also require sophisticated hardware to operate efficiently and with high flexibility to achieve the demanded productivity. This has lead to some software developers and companies to drop support for certain hardware and architecture especially the 32-bit processor and operating system architecture.
Furthermore, users are also being advised through recommendations to upgrade to the more preferred 64-bit architecture that supports large amount of data processing and offers a bigger computational power.
Due to some of the above reasons, in recent years, there has been talk about Ubuntu developers possibly dropping support for Ubuntu on i386 for both desktop and server. Could this be happening soon in the next few releases of Ubuntu Linux?
You can follow all the discussion about installation media and supportability of i386 in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS to understand where all this is coming from and heading towards.
What are your thoughts on Ubuntu developers dropping support for i386 on Ubuntu desktop or possibly server? You can share with us via the comment section below.
Use Arch! Get rid of bloated desktops!
Yes, Arch Linux is good. But a lot of people still find Ubuntu to be more productive in comparison to Arch Linux, that is true according to statistics. But users like can also help Arch Linux become popular by preaching about its importance.