Vista 64bit

[Panda On Smack]

Taken from another thread but I wanted to make it more obvious.

Is it wise to use Vista 64 yet or is it still poopy?

Ta!

 

[Jimmae]

been using it on a new pc for a couple of weeks, only problem i had was with my x-fi card, and that was fixed with a wipe of the drivers and reinstalling them, definatley worth spending a few hours getting all the drivers you could need burnt to a dvd before you install it though

 

[inactionman]

Been using it for about six months or so and had no problems, driver support for normal stuff is great (even found drivers for my samsung laser printer), there's now AV apps, firewalls etc. for it, and it's great if you have 4Gb of RAM, and useful for future-proofing.

 

[Insane]

and it's great if you have 4Gb of RAM, and useful for future-proofing.

That's the only real reason to stick x64 Vista on, if you have over 3.2gb of ram in your machine or are planning on upgrading later on to more memory.

The main problem is most manufacturers see Vista as a scapegoat to remove support for older products, so you will need to research carefully if every item you have in your computer is supported by Vista before you upgrade. You might also find that some have only released 32bit vista drivers so far. If you can go to the microsoft website and get the Vista upgrade advisor and run that against your machine with everything plugged in.

So to sum it up
<= 2gb = Vista 32bit (Or be wise and stick with XP SP2)
> 2gb = 64bit Vista

Oh, and if you have an HP printer you might be forced into using the dreadful HP Universal Print Driver... If you are, get a fork and start gouging your eyes out now

 

[Panda On Smack]

Thanks Guys, am planning to get 4gb of mem so am tempted

cheers!

 

[inactionman]

One thing to bear in mind about 64bit driver support, if you are a device manufacturer and you want a signed driver (WHQL drivers) from microsoft you must provide both 32bit and 64bit drivers with similar levels of functionality, else they won't do it.

64bit drivers are pretty much heading mainstream now.

 

[Jonty]

Hi Panda

Just to reitterate about the drivers, it's worth having a look at the hardware you currently use (and are likely to purchase) and then visit the manufacturers' websites to see if they offer 64-bit drivers. This is the main issue, as most (but still not all) 32-bit software runs without a hitch, so this leaves drivers as the major hurdle. The WHQL driver certification requirement is also worth mentioning if you like to use modded drivers (such as for graphics cards), but otherwise things are slowly improving as demand increases and more companies get on board.

Don't expect any big performance gains, but 64-bit optimised software (what little there is) does obviously benefit, and there are added security features in the 64-bit version of Vista. The RAM issue is also worth mentioning in order to reclaim the ~0.8GB unavailable in 32-bit operating systems, but this will only be noticeable in demanding applications.

Kind regards

 

[Dr_Weasel]

I can also vouch for Vista x64. Ive been running it for about 6 months now with no problems.

I used to run XP x64 but needed to reinstall to set up a RAID array so I thought Id take a punt with Vista. Had a small issue with the X-Fi drivers and the microphone not working properly, but the latest driver pack fixed that. Otherwise everything works a treat.

I do have 4GB of Ram though and an AMD 4800+ dual core so its no slouch of a machine. Dont know if that makes a difference.

 

[Trem]

I also use Vista 64 bit and had absolutely no problems (not like I did with XP 64 bit) regarding drivers. I have 4gb of ram also and my pc flies compared to previous windows.

1 problem I have had was weird graphics problems with my 7900GT gfx card, I bought an 8800GTS this week and all is now perfect. Dunno if the card was on its way out or if it was a Vista issue.

 

[Kryten]

Worth using I think - my brother is having numerous issues on his setup regarding DRM - as soon as a naughty disc is inserted, Vista 64 hides the drive! I don't have such issues on a VM on my system though.

Otherwise all is good, some of the annoyances are easily removed (like the requirement for signed drivers but that is a one way street, only do it if you have to). Certainly leaps and bounds ahead of XP 64.

 

[TdC]

ok because of you guys I have now bit the bullet and purchased vista64. if anything goes wrong I'm blaming all of you, but Trem especially

 

[Jonty]

Hi TdC

If you have already bought a 32-bit retail version of Vista, you can ask Microsoft to send you a 64-bit installation disc. It's 'free', but you need to pay the postage. Furthermore, the Vista Ultimate ships with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions in the same package.

If you didn't previously buy Vista, if you bought an OEM version, or if Vista came preinstalled, then you're out of luck.

I hope everything goes well!

Kind regards

Jonty

P.S. Microsoft have some general introductory information about the 64-bit version.

 

[TdC]

heh I actually bought the OEM 64bit Ultimate, because the retail is 4x as expensive, and I didn't feel like paying 300 euros for a box and some books I'll never read. Now I see that I would be getting a 32 bit version as well in that package. Too bad, but even so it would still be >100 euros as expensive.