Vista 32 bit or 64 bit?

mario2008

Distinguished
Jun 18, 2007
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My current rig

q6600

2 gig ram

P35 DS3P

1950xt

500gb hd

I dont have any idea which version to get 32 bit or 64 bit? and one more thing should i get premium or home or ulimate edition?
 
Solution
Don't bother with Ultimate - MSFT has delivered on very few of the promised extras.

32 or 64? I've run both: They look/feel/behave pretty much the same. From a usage standpoint, 32's defaults are more home computing friendly. 64 likes to nuke things who's security certificates it doesn't like, for example. Kind of annoying. I haven't found anything yet that out and out won't run if it gets by security. (Speedfan and Coretemp aren't liked by 64 because of their security certificates).

OTOH, in and of itself 64 runs noticably quicker. Not "OHH EMM GEE" faster, but it's definitely snappier.

Games? I have Bioshock, NWN2, and Oblivion installed and haven't had any trouble running them at all. WOW runs beautifully as well. But I...
Don't bother with Ultimate - MSFT has delivered on very few of the promised extras.

32 or 64? I've run both: They look/feel/behave pretty much the same. From a usage standpoint, 32's defaults are more home computing friendly. 64 likes to nuke things who's security certificates it doesn't like, for example. Kind of annoying. I haven't found anything yet that out and out won't run if it gets by security. (Speedfan and Coretemp aren't liked by 64 because of their security certificates).

OTOH, in and of itself 64 runs noticably quicker. Not "OHH EMM GEE" faster, but it's definitely snappier.

Games? I have Bioshock, NWN2, and Oblivion installed and haven't had any trouble running them at all. WOW runs beautifully as well. But I can't leave that on my comp - It's Ev1L and tries to take over my life. They look a bit prettier on 64 then they did on 32, but I'm pretty sure that's mostly because nVidia have a 64 bit driver for my card. Not as much a function of the OS.

Which version? Premium gets you Media Center. But if you use different software for that, then stick with the regular Home one. Oh - I do prefer a retail license, for less hassles reinstalling if I screw something up.

Also - Hard Drives are cheap, and Dual Booting is a great way to have your cake and eat it too.

 
Solution

LoneEagle

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Oct 19, 2006
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I had Vista 32 with 2GB and I moved to Vista 64 4GB (Home Premium).

You should install the 64 bits if you plan soon to increase your RAM. Vista love it. I am very happy with my new system. Vista is great with 4GB. Will never go back, for now! :)