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Raspberry Pi 3 uses a 64-bit ARM CPU, while its predecessors used 32-bit ones.

How does this affect software compatibility?

Can all of the old 32 bit binary packages for Raspberry Pi 1 and 2 be properly run on it? Or have most of the Raspbian packages already been recompiled for the new architecture?

TRiG
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atevm
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    While the OS software is identical (as in the answer) the Pi3 requires different drivers and different Device Tree settings due to the changes in hardware. – Milliways Mar 31 '16 at 23:04

1 Answers1

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While the processor in the Pi 3 is 64bit. The new chip is fully backward compatable and it uses the same 32bit OS, hence all programs will continue to work. Additional information can be found in this question.

Community
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Steve Robillard
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  • How does it work with the same image file (if it does)? It has firmware, dev tree, kernel overlays and `config.txt` for both versions? For what SoC the kernel is compiled? – Velkan Jun 03 '16 at 08:28
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    @Velkan If you have a NEW question, please ask it by clicking the [Ask Question](http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) button.This is not something that can/sjould be answered in a comment. – Steve Robillard Jun 03 '16 at 08:30