Microsoft Office 2010 64-bit vs. 32-bit

Fellow MVP, Rolly Perreaux, pointed out on his blog:

How many of you went to your Microsoft TechNet Subscriber account to get the latest and greatest Office Professional Plus 2010 OR Project 2010 OR Visio 2010 today?  I’m sure quite a lot, if not all of you did.

Now many of you immediately went and downloaded the 64 bit version? After all, your computer’s operating system is probably Windows 7 64 bit right?

Did you get a chance to read the View Details, before clicking the Download link?

Instructions and Resources

Important: Microsoft strongly recommends the use of 32-bit (x86) versions of Office 2010, Project 2010, and Visio 2010 applications as the default option for all platforms.

Learn more about the deployment considerations for x64 and x86 at: 64-bit editions of Office 2010 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee681792(office.14).aspx).

Sometimes there is a perfectly valid reason for installing the 64-bit application. Perhaps if you have monster-sized Excel spreadsheets or Project schedules (they do exist). But really think it through...

You cannot install the x64 version if you have any 32-bit Office applications, such as Sharepoint Designer, Microsoft Frontpage or previous versions of Visio. The x64 version is also incompatible with most or all Office Add-ins (primarily a concern with Outlook).

Either way, know that you have to uninstall any beta versions of Office 2010 before you can install RTM.