Windows 64bit vs. Vista? I just want functionality.

[kansur0]

There is alot of hype surrounding Vista. I want somebody to cut through all that crap and tell me what Vista will do better than Windows 64bit. I don't care about all the fancy transparent windows and other useless trinkets. I use XP in classic mode because I don't need eye candy. I want performance.

Is there anything in Vista that Windows 64bit won't have? Is Vista actually Windows 64bit with a fancy candy coating? Will Windows 64bit will be discarded and ignored by Microsoft as soon as Vista is released?

Thanks.

 

[apesoccer]

The minimum system will be much higher then any previous system with this. It will also be coming in many many flavours. I think the last count i heard was 6...but i could easily be off by a couple. There are 32-bit and 64-bit flavours of this system coming out.

As an IT guy working for the state, i see this as nothing but problems...It isn't going to be backwards compatable with older systems, since the built in video isn't going to be good enough to run vista (as things currently stand). I was under the impression that they wanted to go with some sort of new additional video component as well...A specialized monitor of some sort? Also, minimum memory to run the system is going to be about 1gb. We still have old machines, in a lab or two, running with 128mb's of ram.

I have no doubt that we'll go to Vista, but it won't happen right away for us, we simply can't upgrade to it, we dont' have the minimum requirements in most situations. And the ones that we do hit the minimum, we won't be able to upgrade because we need performance from those machines, which since the minimum for Vista is currently equal to the BEST we have right now, it would be crippling those systems just to keep the OS running.

The problem with XP Pro is that it is too good. There isn't any need to upgrade it. Poor microsoft...poor little billionaires...What will they do? Also, i'd like to add, Vista does not have the new file system that they were trying to champion...So basically you're upgrading from XP to Vista for most of nothing. And there will be a new OS within two years which will be Vista with that new file system, and i'm sure we'll all be wanting to upgrade to that over the current vista. Vista while really nice in it's own way...won't be any different then ME i expect... Looks like 2000 but doesn't offer the support or the improvements we want. Or in Vista's case, it Looks like Vista II (or whatever they're calling it...), but underperforms on higher quality equipment (compared to XP; similar to ME) and is buggy (like ME). I'm saying this is a transitional piece...Like ME and 2000, moving to XP Pro...There will be Vista, then later an upgraded Vista II with all the components we want.


All of that said: You may be in a special place...Right now 64-bit XP pro just isn't kept up-to-date as well as 32-bit xp. So this *might* be a posibility for you to upgrade to a 64-bit OS that is better supported (6-12months after its initial release...). But, even if it is better supported by the manufacturers (creating drivers...) and MS, you'll still need to upgrade several components. Most motherboards are limited by how much ram you can put in them. 2, 4 or 8gb are about as well as you can do. Abit is the only non workstation style mobo manu. that does 8gb (that i know of...), and since 1gb is the minimum, then you'll want 2-4gb min. to run your programs in (assuming 64-bit is for some type of CAD or video/picture software...). You'll *have to* get a new monitor and high end graphics card... And of course...that's assuming that the software company's you use, all make software compatible with the new OS. A whole lot of "if's", if you ask me. Vista won't come together for at least 2 years if you ask me. Maybe by the second service pack, there *might* be an equal following compared to XP Pro/Home. About that time, they'll stop supporting XP entirely (if not before...), and release Vista II.

 

[unstable]

I have copies of Vista Beta and I'm not that impressed with it.

As Ape mentioned, it's probably not going to have anything that XP doesn't already have...and at the end of the day, who really cares about little enhancements like eye-candy or stupid little applications?

64 Bit has its' merits, but I think it's more valuable on the server front where you have a real need to access lots of memory (i.e. database servers).

 

[kansur0]

Thanks for the answers so far. I just wish I would have posted it in the right place --> Software.

I really think that Tom and his crew should really do an article on this subject and put the heat on Microsoft to support an no nonsense OS. If Microsoft wants to be so anal about splitting up Vista into so many stupid little categories $$$ they should also be willing to take ownership of Windows 64bit and continue to support it even after Vista arrives.

They are making it so easy for Apple. Just makes me ill to see how a company worth billions can produce an operating system that will make computers practically useless just so it can look more like Apple OSX.

Sad. Very sad.

 

[FITCamaro]

The only real reason to upgrade to Vista over XP is if you're a gamer. DX10 is only slated for Vista at this time. If that changes and XP will get it, then there won't even be that.

The only other nice thing is that Media Center Functionality is built into Vista but I think that will only be available at the premium level.

I've run 32-bit and 64-bit Vista(and still have it running). Neither impressed me. System requirements are insane, memory usage is insane.

Oh, just as a heads up, the hard drive footprint of 64-bit Vista is 17.2GB in the February CTP. Now it might be larger due to MS probably having a lot of debugging shit compiled in, but even if its half of that, thats still 4x the size of XP. At the moment though its 7x the size of XP.