Some Advice and Discussion Please :-)

[CA55IUS]

Hi Some advice please.

Ive got windows xp mce, im thinking of making a partition and putting vista ultimate 64 bit on it.

Briefly ive got a core2duo e6600 o/clk to 3ghz, with 500gb raid 0 array on hardisk using nvidia forceware, nvidia 680i asus motherboard.

What I want to know is, is there going to be 64bit support both now and in the future for game, apps , hardware etc.

Is 64 bit the way forward, will any games work on it. And will games and apps that general work on 32 bit vista work on 64 bit?.

Also how would the compatibility part of vista work on 64 bit vista, would it convert it back to 32 bit to run the file, when u right click on it and select run as xp compatibility.

So many questions...... I know its a first post, but advice would be ace .

Thank you very much

 

[CA55IUS]

...just to add I just spoke to Microsoft online support for advice, and after I was given a bit of reassurance about vista 64, I asked what version the microsoft employee was using... he said XP lol (I hope that doesnt say it all ).

Any help would be ace bytheway

 

[dsharp9000]

Dont know what you are really asking as it appear you have made up mind that vista is not good.

But you bring up interesting point with vista 64 for gaming --- as it would appear to me that you would have to have 64 bit version as this would be key to future if building gaming pc for future--- would like comments on this as this is interesting perspective that have not considered ---- do you need 64 bit vista version for vista in future for gaming or 32 bit version?

 

[pkellmey]

I started down the same upgrade path as you are suggesting. 64 Bit didn't support my wireless network, my sound card, tv cards or my video card at the time. Now, it just doesn't support my sound card and 1 tv card. Compatibility is a hit or miss feature that doesn't fix all apps (though it does fix quite a few). From a future standpoint, 64 bit is the way to go. However, how long it will take you to get everything working for multimedia and gaming depends on your rig - for me, it looked like a long way off.

I reinstalled with 32 bit and, so far, have had only a handful of issues - all had workarounds or alt. solutions - and everything I run is supported at least to some degree (some older games are buggy). The OS is as stable as when I was under MCE, just some of the apps are still a little buggy due to device drivers. If you are a heavy gamer or multimedia - 32 bit is most compatible. If you don't want to rebuild - 64 bit may be the way to go.

 

[riser]

Here's the deal...

64 bit is new. Software and hardware companies need to come up with the software/drivers to work with it.

In order for hardware and software companies to start on 64 bit, the OS needed to come out first.

With that, these companies are now in the process of making 64 apps available. Programs aren't created over night, they're learning how a 64 bit app will work, fixing the tweaks.

I bet you'll see a lot more 64 bit apps out this Fall, which is when more people turn back to their computers with the weather getting colder.

By Christmas, you'll have a lot of 64b programs coming out. My thoughts: Wait until next fall, 1.5 years, before you see strong 64 bit programs coming out in force. At that point, switching to a 64 bit OS would be the reason to go that route.

At this point, current 32 bit is ideal. Let the people who want to spend the money on 64 bit do the work for you. They'll have all the problems, they'll report the problems.. they'll work the problems out and you can get the OS for cheaper, less problems, and be happier.