Please Help Me understand... ?

There is no real advantage to go to a 64bit OS unless you have more than 4gb of RAM.

also doing a change from 32bit to 64bit requires you to backup you data and completly white and reinstall windows and all of your programs.

you will also need to purchase a 64bit version of windows.

it can be a quite an ordeal and not worth it unless you are seriously holding your system back.

being that you have vista, and a celeron i would not bother.

but if ur wanting to go to windows 7 then for sure get the 64bit one

^Agreed. Moving to Windows 7 64bit will benefit you in some ways, but you will have to buy it first AND do a complete re-installation.

"The main differences between the 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista relate to memory accessibility, memory management, and enhanced security features. The security features that are available in the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista include the following:

Kernel Patch Protection
Support for hardware-backed Data Execution Protection (DEP)
Mandatory driver signing
Removal of support for 32-bit drivers
Removal of the 16-bit subsystem

One of the greatest advantages of using a 64-bit version of Windows Vista is the ability to access physical memory (RAM) that is above the 4-gigabyte (GB) range. This physical memory is not addressable by 32-bit versions of Windows Vista. "

There is a key guideline in the IT world: if it isn't broken, don't fix it! If you are not having any issues, then there is no need to change your system. Above are the differences (as per microsoft) from 32 to 64-bit. Given your setup in particular, its just not worth it. I believe that is a single core processor that was released on the first core architecture. It will be worth looking at for your next computer, but just for the sake of having 64-bit, you are not going to notice a difference.


Link for the site i quoted - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946765