Vista Question

[Seraphic]

Hi,

Been using Windows XP Pro for a long time now, but I was thinking of moving to Vista as it allows you to use over 4gb ram. However, will 32bit vista work with 32bit xp software? Or do you need all new drivers for 32bit/64bit Vista?

 

[badge]

Hi,

Been using Windows XP Pro for a long time now, but I was thinking of moving to Vista as it allows you to use over 4gb ram. However, will 32bit vista work with 32bit xp software? Or do you need all new drivers for 32bit/64bit Vista?

You would have to install VISTA 64 to have the OS recognize 4 GB of RAM. VISTA 32 will work with $ GB, but the entire 4 GB is not recognized and appropriated by the 32 OS, VISTA or not. Vista 32, you will find, will run most of your XP software, but likely not all of it. Software vendors are doing a good job for the most part providing Vista drivers for their products. If you install Vista 32 Ultimate or Business editions, you can run XP from a Virtual machine within VISTA and run any software that would not otherwise run on Vista alone. The download is free:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/default.mspx

Or do you need all new drivers for 32bit/64bit Vista?

Vista 32 and 64 have different drivers.

 

[Seraphic]

Ah, I see.

So, is that also the same with XP 64-bit? Will need all new drivers moving from XP 32-bit?

Also, would 64bit Vista or XP be a better buy?

 

[Maxxify]

Yes, it would be the same with XP64. However, Vista x64 has the benefit of being able to use many of XP64's drivers (I'm using several right now), although XP64 may or may not have better overall legacy application support. Chances are, Vista x64 will be better supported, so I would suggest it over XP64 in most circumstances. 32-bit software works fine for both, but drivers need to be 64-bit; I would suggest seeing if there are XP64/Vista x64 drivers available for your hardware - the most likely to cause a problem are imaging drivers (printer, scanner, TV tuner, etc.).

 

[badge]

If you want to fully utalize 4 gb RAM, you will have to install a 64 bit OS, VISTA 64 or XP Pro 64. YOu would then need the 64 bit drivers for ALL your hardware. But, if you install VISTA 64 Ultimate or Business editions, you can then install a Virtual PC 'inside' VISTA with you old XP Windows installed to run any old software '32 bit' you have. Nice huh!

I think Vista 64 Ultimate is just under $200 and Vista 64 Business is around $150.