Dirs Program Files (x86) and Program Files

Question

I am developing on a Windows 2008 R2 Server, 64 bit. I am developing for SharePoint 2007, 64 bit.

My file structure has these two directories. I am trying to fix a solution reference in VS2007. Does it matter where I reference something, are these somewhat duplicate dirs, or how should I consider these two dirs?

Answer 1

The Program Files (x86) directory is for applications that are set to run as 32-bit, while the Program Files directory is for applications set to run as 64-bit, so, yes, they should be considered different.