Why is Windows 32-bit called Windows x86 and not Windows x32?
The Windows operating system can be either 32 bit or 64 bit. The 64 bit version is called Windows x64 but the 32 bit version is called Windows x86. Why isn't it called Windows x32? What is the reason?
Answer
x86 is the name of the architecture that it's built to run on (the name comes from a series of old Intel processors, the names of which all ended in 86, The first of which was the 8086). Although x86 was originally a 16-bit architecture, the version in use today is the 32-bit extension.
x64 is actually more correctly "x86-64"--the 64-bit extension of x86. It was developed by AMD under a license from Intel, which may account for the difference in nomenclature (that and the fact that both architectures have seen simultaneous use for a long time, so marking the distinction is important). All things considered, though, it's easier to just say x64, though, so we stuck with that.