My friend tells me to stay away from 64 bit Vista!?!?!

Chad711 · 10-29-2008, 12:55 PM

I have a new mobo coming and I currently am running a dual boot of XP and Vista32. He (my friend) insist that I should keep away from the 64 bit because I will run into compatibility issues with drivers and it will be a headache. No offense to anyone but he also use to say to stay away from Vista because it is crap and just use XP. Well he is now a Vista user and doesn't even use Xp at all. So I question his integrity at times.

So I am thinking about going to 64 bit but should I? What advantage do I have with 64? I am using the computer mainly for gaming. I plan to have a new 4870 1gb coming in a month or two.

What IF ANY issues do I face with 64 that I will not run into with 32?

carnageX · 10-29-2008, 12:57 PM

Vista 64 is very compatible now. Very few things don't work with it...there's a lot of members here who run Vista 64bit and don't have problems with anything. XP 64bit has a lot of incompatibility issues with drivers and such, but Vista 64 is much better on that front.

May also want to check out this thread: Difference Between 32 Bit (x86) and 64 Bit (x64)

Located in the stickied topic entitled "READ FIRST"

synergy · 10-29-2008, 01:01 PM

I use both XP x86 and Vista x64 and I have cussed many a time over Vista. When it runs, it runs great. However there are a lot of issues. The advantage is if you have more than 2gb of RAM because the 64bit OS will recognize it and utilize it. I wouldn't necessarily say "do not use Vista" but just know that you will probably have some issues. As far as straight 32bit vs. 64bit...I haven't really noticed a huge difference in processing as most apps don't even use 64bit.

mysacrement · 10-29-2008, 03:07 PM

Chad711, I was once in your shoes and these guys that think they know everything telling me to stay away from Vista64bit. And that 32 bit was "okay". I just recently bought a brand new HP Laptop - an Intel core 2 duo 2.0Ghz at 4GB RAM. And it runs amazing. I have not yet run into any compatibilty issues or driver issues as of yet. And I am running all sorts of extras like built in web cam, bluetooth accessories, wireless networking etc.

The x86/64bit version of Vista can run programs that are in 32 bit as well as anything in 64 bit. Going 64bit does not limit you to 64bit software and drivers only. you can run a 32 bit version or a 64 bit version of Internet Explorer. On my system I run iTunes, Media Center, MS Office 2007, etc. All of these programs are 32 bit.

Now why go 64 if a lot of stuff is still 32bit? because 64 is the next gen. 64 bit processes faster, and supports more RAM than 32. And more and more software and hardware will be supporting it. One year ago iwould have stayed away from 64 bit because of compatibility issues. today I recomend anyone that asks me, to go 64bit Vista. As long as your hardware supports it, and you are running at least 4GB of Ram you will be happy.

If you're afraid of something not running in 64 bit, refer to the info on it to see if it will before you decide.

As I am into all sorts of software and like to try everything that I come accrossed, I test a lot of programs in 64bit and still have not come accross and problems.

so if your friend is saying stay away from 64 bit it's because he doesn't use 64bit, doesn't read forums, and probably doesn't really know anything about it. Hope this helps you in your decision.

Mak213 · 10-29-2008, 03:11 PM

Vista 64 Bit has got to be the best OS on the market right now. IT is as stable and performs just as well as Server 08 and just read these forums you will see how much people praise Server 08. Vista 64 is on par with that. It is a great OS once you isntall SP1.

aspire · 10-29-2008, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysacrement

Now why go 64 if a lot of stuff is still 32bit? because 64 is the next gen. 64 bit processes faster, and supports more RAM than 32. And more and more software and hardware will be supporting it. One year ago iwould have stayed away from 64 bit because of compatibility issues. today I recomend anyone that asks me, to go 64bit Vista. As long as your hardware supports it, and you are running at least 4GB of Ram you will be happy.

Innately it does not process faster, the only difference is in the length of addresses to bits of memory.

Chad711 · 10-29-2008, 04:13 PM

Well here is a question for you. If I try Vista 64 and I do run into some issues can I rollback to Vista32 without reformatting?

aspire · 10-29-2008, 04:33 PM

No, it requires a full reformat.

mysacrement · 10-29-2008, 04:42 PM

Well of course you can run in to problems and compatibilty with 64bit OS's if you build your own PC, that is, if you don't buy and install the correct hardware. If you built a system with the correct hardware and ran Vista64bit on it, why would you run into compatibility issues that you would not run into with a manufactured PC like HP or Dell? Yes, obviously these manufacturers are not going to built and sell a pc that doesn't work. I mean thanks aspire for pointing out that obvious point, LoL. I dont believe i suggested they would so I'm not sure where he's coming from there. my question to this aspirecomptech would be, why would you build a PC that is not going to have be 64bit compatable and then install a 64bit OS? I mean if you're building PC's you should know what is going to be compatable and what isn't. That was an obscure statement. If you built a PC that isn't going to run well with 64bit, obviously yes you will have issues. LoL...But if you build a PC with hardware you've researched and you know what you are building and what you're doing, compatability with drivers and such won't be an issue.

And to answer your question about rolling back, no... I'm still not sure why you would want to do that though. Perhaps you could tell me what software or hardware you're worried about not working?

Lexluethar · 10-29-2008, 04:47 PM

64 bit doesn't technically physically transport information or process faster. What it does is allow 64 bits of data to move back and forth at one time, instead of the traditional 32 bit. So if a process takes 1kb of processing power, a 64 bit system would process that information twice as fast as a 32 bit (all things equal).

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