There’s a doc online that explains the benefits and drawbacks of deploying 64-bit Office, and why we recommend the 32-bit version of Office 2013 for most users.
As more and more personal computers run 64-bit versions of Windows, it’s tempting to deploy the 64-bit version of Office 2013 to match. One benefit is that 64-bit Office allows users to work with larger sets of Excel and Project data. But, there are compatibility drawbacks for those users because Office add-ins and solutions might not work. That’s why 32-bit Office 2013 is recommended for most users.
- 32-bit Office is recommended for most users
- 64-bit Office has advantages that benefit only specific kinds of users and workloads
- Review the requirements for deploying Office 64-bit
- 64-bit Office only works on 64-bit Windows
- Running 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office on the same computer isn’t supported
- When you upgrade to Office 2013, the architecture versions must be the same for the old and new version
- If you want to switch between 32-bit and 64-bit versions, you must uninstall and then re-install Office 2013
- Some applications block 64-bit Office 2013 installations
- Compatibility issues that you’ll have to consider if you deploy 64-bit Office
- Some 32-bit features aren’t in 64-bit versions of Office
- Graphics rendering might have performance implications
- VBA code that uses Declare statements must be updated
- ActiveX controls and COM add-ins that were written for 32-bit Office won’t work in a 64-bit process
- Microsoft Access .mde, .ade, and .accde database files that have had their source code removed can’t be moved between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2013
- MAPI applications that work with Outlook must be rebuilt
- In-place OLE activation might not work if the version of Office 2013 doesn’t match registered applications
- Telemetry Log can help you identify compatibility issues with 64-bit Office
For elaboration on each of the points above, please click the link below:
- INFO: 64-bit editions of Office 2013
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee681792(v=office.15).aspx
Kurt Shintaku's Blog 