cspizz Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 i'm wondering whether i should get a 64-bit os. i'm currently running win xp pro , but i lost the os install cd so i need to buy a replacement. i wanna go 64-bit to max out on memory, but the MS choices are limited [win xp pro x64 (soon-to-be unsupported) and vista (unstable and bloated)] and installing a 64-bit linux distro would be a big leap for a new build. plus, i think not all hardware vendors make 64-bit drivers. i'm thinking my only option seems to be buying xp pro 32-bit. my problem with that--beside giving $$$ to MS--is that the price of xp has gone up since the release of the aforementioned shabby vista. what to do, what to do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_cow Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 iv been using winxp 64 for about 2 1/2 years now and its great if you got 64x apps to run (video editing, 3d programs) but as for driver support its limited and i have found times where programs simply just wont run. on a good note, it boots twice as fast, hold higher amount of memory, runs faster usually even in 32bit apps. if you like xp32 and want a simple speed boost of a aging computer you want win64. vista well....don't expect to do much more the browse the web and play games and buying some new ram because you need 2gb just to browse the web.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RimX Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 just buy vista...it is completely stable. I'm running it on the system in my Sig and was running it previously on my laptop(switched it to linux to do my work with about 6 months or so ago) that was an Old Dell Inspiron 9100 with a P4 2.8GHz 1gb of RAM and I never ran into any problems, everything worked just fine, and I have yet to find any apps that don't work or any lack of drivers. It is a very good OS. People call it bloated because they don't understand how it works. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehit Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 people call it bloated due to all the crap running in the background... they are correct... i have 64 bit XP and 64 bit Vista. the XP is much better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 and vista (unstable and bloated)] Incorrect. It's neither unstable nor bloated. vista well....don't expect to do much more the browse the web and play games and buying some new ram because you need 2gb just to browse the web.. Incorrect. XP x64 is also *slower* than XP 32 bit unless you have software that's actually 64 bit optimized. Both XP and Vista in 64 bit versions use more memory by default for everything as well. people call it bloated due to all the crap running in the background... That crap takes about 10 seconds to turn off. OP - you'll have less problems with software and your computer will be more stable on Vista 64 bit than it will with Windows XP x64. /waits for people to start bashing Vista out of ignorance Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 plus, i think not all hardware vendors make 64-bit drivers. all your actual useful hardware like mobo, graphics cards, sound cards, etc... unless they suck, or are specialist, they'll have Vista 64 drivers, but you might struggle to find XP64 drivers... I think the only thing in my house that doesn't have a Vista 64 bit driver is a SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold (ISA) that is so old, I don't even have a motherboard to install it on I use multiple OSs... XP Pro SP2 (general/games/development) Vista x86 (review benchmarking) Vista x64 (DX10 games/development) Ubuntu 7.10 32-bit (console/handheld development) Ubuntu 7.10 64-bit (folding) So I find 64-bit can be good for me, but my primary OS is still XP Pro SP2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 I think the only thing in my house that doesn't have a Vista 64 bit driver is a SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold (ISA) that is so old, I don't even have a motherboard to install it on All Creative drivers post-Audigy are crap anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverfox Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 Incorrect. It's neither unstable nor bloated. 14GB 64bit Ultimate install is not bloated? XP Pro was only a few GB I quite like it though. I am currently dual booting while I iron out any potential problems. I suspect I'll shift everything to Vista with a bit of time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspizz Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 just buy vista...it is completely stable. My wife just got a new laptop for work w/core 2 duo and 2gb mem. She gets the blue screen of death daily since day one. That's unstable. People call it bloated because they don't understand how it works. It isn't a matter of understanding how it works. It is bloated. As has been pointed out here [and probably thousands of other places], Vista requires 2gb mem just to provide basic functions. That meets my definition of bloated. -c Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspizz Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 Incorrect. It's neither unstable nor bloated. Incorrect. It's both. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverfox Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 Incorrect. It's both. To be perfectly fair with Vista, while it may well be bloated, 64 bit with SP1 has been nothing but rock-solid for me. No errors, blue screens or crashes at all. The only issue I had was because I forgot to install the correct ATI driver (was using Vista default), so that it was 100% compatible with sleep mode. Other than that, yeah, it's got a lardy arse at 14GB ... but with 500GB drives the norm, it's hardly a huge deal. Consider a 14GB install for Vista from a 500GB drive - that's 2.8% used. I have 2GB RAM, of which, 47% is used in idle (Aero theme). Windows 98 using 550MB from a 15GB drive (at the time, about Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comp Dude2 Posted April 10, 2008 Posted April 10, 2008 I vote Vista 64bit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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