This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I absolutely hate the way MS forces the user to use two Program File folders in Win7. And the naming convention of these two folders is ridiculous. At least make the names of the folders meaningful for the common user. Even old school programmers and users may not immediately know what the difference is just by looking at the folder names. Instead of "C:\Program Files" and "C:\Program Files(x86)...how about "C:\Program Files(64)" for 64 bit applications and "C:\Program Files(32)" for 32 bit applications? Of course, the best thing to do is to just have one Program Files folder and the OS should be smart enough to figure out whether the application is 64 bit or not. But MS took the lazy way out.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Comments have been turned off. Learn more
It can, but what if you have both versions of a program installed?
Plus, can you imagine if they changed the name of it now, and broke 30+ years of programs that don't know that their files are now under the (32) folder? We'd have billions of people in here complaining.
i have problem when i want go in web site i have this response
Couldn't open link due to popup blocker
i dont no for take of this blocker.
thank you for your help
I know this. But that doesn't make the naming convention make sense. The naming convention is terrible and should make identifying which one is 32 bit and which one is 64 bit obvious to everyone. I have been coding for more than 20 years and when I first saw these two folders in the explorer tree in Windows 7 a few years ago, I had no idea what they meant. I "guessed" that x86 was based on the original Intel 8086 chip design from the 70s which became their x86 flagship. So, I again "guessed" that the Program Files (x86) folder meant "old" and the plain Program Files folder meant "new". But these were all guesses that should not be required. And what if a laymen person who has no idea about the history of the x86 processor?
Bottom line is this is a terrible naming convention. And actually there should only be one Program Files folder. Win7 should be smart enough to tell whether or not a program is 32 or 64 bit. Think of it as "plug and play".
x86 is the origonal name for the instruction set. The same program folder names are also used in win8
