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32-bit computing
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Computer_architecture/tHtwxgR2">computer architecture</a>, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a <a href="/facts/Central_processing_unit/Jxp1bqMV">processor</a>, <a href="/facts/Computer_memory/hQKVQ51J">memory</a>, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32-<a href="/facts/Bit/S972NSaD">bit</a> units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculations more efficiently and process more data per clock cycle. Typical 32-bit <a href="/facts/Personal_computer/koaYfNce">personal computers</a> also have a 32-bit <a href="/facts/Address_bus/R45TKwS7">address bus</a>, permitting up to 4 GB of <a href="/facts/Random-access_memory/DuD4bxh6">RAM</a> to be accessed, far more than previous generations of system architecture allowed. </p><p>32-bit designs have been used since the earliest days of electronic computing, in experimental systems and then in large <a href="/facts/Mainframe_computer/nrBR6rWa">mainframe</a> and <a href="/facts/Minicomputer/g8hvpQxe">minicomputer</a> systems. The first hybrid 16/32-bit <a href="/facts/Microprocessor/Fx9CaQht">microprocessor</a>, the <a href="/facts/Motorola_68000/3p2wt2D6">Motorola 68000</a>, was introduced in the late 1970s and used in systems such as the original <a href="/facts/Apple_Macintosh/8GhnXTK0">Apple Macintosh</a>. Fully 32-bit microprocessors such as the <a href="/facts/HP_FOCUS/zABxeHBY">HP FOCUS</a>, <a href="/facts/Motorola_68020/LfHs3kMh">Motorola 68020</a> and <a href="/facts/I386/ag5eSgWv">Intel 80386</a> were launched in the early to mid 1980s and became dominant by the early 1990s. This generation of personal computers coincided with and enabled the first <a href="/facts/History_of_the_Internet/frRuaPrU">mass-adoption of the World Wide Web</a>. While 32-bit architectures are still widely-used in specific applications, the PC and server market has moved on to <a href="/facts/64-bit_computing/AgvkQHkM">64 bits</a> with <a href="/facts/X86-64/cyWvUFlP">x86-64</a> and other 64-bit architectures since the mid-2000s with installed memory often exceeding the 32-bit 4G RAM address limits on entry level computers. The latest generation of <a href="/facts/Smartphone/cSIrBMWG">smartphones</a> have also switched to 64 bits. </p>