Do you use 32 bit or 64 bit?

[Computer-Ed]

I have posted this same poll in another forum and thought it might be interest to get a feel for the numbers.

The big question for me is if there is any real advanatge to going 64 bit. What I mean is take a user that has 2 gigs of RAM and does not plan any upgrade for the near future. Does 64 bit OS such as Vista 64, offer any advanatge at all for the user?

[Panda Man]

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

The big question for me is if there is any real advanatge to going 64 bit. What I mean is take a user that has 2 gigs of RAM and does not plan any upgrade for the near future. Does 64 bit OS such as Vista 64, offer any advanatge at all for the user?

Not yet, give another year or so for driver and software support and 64-bit should be worth the upgrade. At this time however, no. The only advantage to 64-bit now anyways is support for more than 3GB of ram.

[yurimxpxman]

I'm still running the i686 kernel. I see no reason to switch just yet. Granted, x86_64 is a bit better in the Linux camp, but there's really no reason to switch just yet. Most of the apps were just re-compiled for the platform instead of re-written to take advantage of the math.

That being said, my cousin's next computer will be running the x86_64 kernel. He's building a quad-core machine with 4GB of RAM

[Reloadron]

I ran with the 64 bit version of XP RC1 till it expired in a dual boot with XP 32 bit. It did work OK and did boot faster, however, I was at a constant loss for drivers to make it worth the time an effort. The programs I was running that would benifit from the 64 bit platform were only available in 32 bit. The WOW emulation worked but none the less I saw no gain in running a 64 bit platform for what I was doing.

Just My Take:

Ron

[screwballl]

even NOW after all this time, the drivers for XP-64 are rare

[[Dr. V]]

well vista 32-bit versions support 4GB ram...

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by screwballl

even NOW after all this time, the drivers for XP-64 are rare

My biggest problem when I first experimented with the 64 bit version of XP was not so much the drivers I needed, but more the issue of finding software designed for it. The first install was on a partition I set up on my workstation. The drivers for my Intel SRCS16 controller card were out pretty quick. I had to wait a few months for the graphics card drivers but 3D labs got them out. The motherboard was Intel 7525 and like the SRCS16 the motherboard drivers were out quick.

My complaint was more focused on a lack of software. Yeah, the WOW emulation worked fine for my 32 bit software but as to things like CAD there was no appreciable difference. Thus I was sitting here running a 64 Bit OS using 32 Bit software in an emulation mode.

Now I am not a gammer unless solitare counts. However I originally figured software for professional graphics editing like Avid or software used in CAD like PRO-E as well as games would be soon written for the 64 bit platforms springing up. That never really took off. I just couldn't find software that would take full of the platform. Bummer!

Ron

[Gig-O-Ram]

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say I use 32 bit, because I'm not even sure how to determine if it's 32 or 64, but I'm taking a guess on 32. I've mistakenly downloaded 64 bit video drivers in the past, but they wouldn't even run, so that told me I had it wrong. Is there a way to find out which it is - like something within Windows that tells you what you have?

[screwballl]

If you don't see 64-bit plastered everywhere then you likely have 32-bit

[stinger608]

Did a dual bit with XP 32bit and 64bit, and the 64bit ran in windows a ton faster, but all of the games that you install get stuck in a x86 program file, so of course they are running in the 32 bit platform.
The 64bit did have some crashing problems, so after about 3 months of messing with it, I quit using it and went back to the old 32bit XP