64bit OS is it worth it and Windows 7 what do you think?

[Capt Fiero]

So I have ready through some of the stickys about 64bit OS's. However I am looking at Vista 64 Ultimate. I would love to run Windows 7, but its way to hard to find drivers for even current products. So Vista Ult. will be the way I am looking.

Ok so I am looking for some advice on moving to a 64 bit OS. I got a new PC over the holidays an E8400 which I quickly overclocked to 3.84ghz. So far I love it. I am only running 2gb of ram, and from what I have read when I up it to 4gb I am going to need to move to a 64bit OS. I have not even looked into 64bit in a couple of years so I have no idea how the driver foundation has picked up.
I am running 32 bit version of XP Pro, Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 on a few machines and am really happy with Windows 7, personally I think it is the best OS Microsoft has released bar none.
Aside from the boost in ram allowed what are the pros and cons of running a 64bit OS. All of my hardware is new, as I moved from a S478 P4 2.8C Northwood to the new S775 E8400 on a Biostar motherboard. Moved from an AGP Video card to a PCI-E Video card, 2 single sticks of 1gb Crucial Ram, and all my HD’s are now Sata. If I make the jump I am going to go to Vista Ultimate 64.

Is it even worth the jump to a 64bit OS?

On a side note, who else is playing around with Windows 7? In my opinion, it takes the best of XP and the few good parts of Vista and throws the rest out. It’s faster than Vista, even in beta; it is less buggy than Vista. I think when MS releases it fully, if they don’t screw it up between now and then, it’s going to be the best OS they have ever released. For the record I am running Beta Build 7000.

 

[Rich'[ard]]

when/if you get 4gb, it's definitely going to be worth it. it's so fast

i dunno if this is a fair comparison, but before i moved to Vista 64, i had XP Pro SP3 32bit. on Xp 32, 4gb wasn't as fast as it is now on Vista 64. shutdowns, start ups are a bit faster, games don't lag at all, FPS may have increased by 2-3%.

but it does take time getting used to the OS. i love the glass effect, aero, or w/e

what i reccommend is that you look up some links that tell you ways to speed up Vista. this can be done by disabling some processes like tablet PC or readyboost etc. (i don't think you can use Tablet PC features when you're using a Desktop).

so yeah.

EDIT: forgot about your w7 question. i reckon it shuold just be like...Vista SP3!
it's kinda the same, but then again they've fixed some bugs and improved performance. a while ago, i read on a forum, some guy said that Vista users should get this new OS for free, because of all the 'hassle' they've had. i certainly woudln't mind a free copy of w7, but on the other hand, i've never had any problems with Vista.

 

[Mtotho]

With a 64Bit System, I reckon a 64Bit OS is worth it. I only use 32Bit XP and 64Bit vista.. the reason is because (atleast when i started using it) the Support for vista was so crappy either way (32 or 64Bit) so you may as well take the 64Bit version, plus i found it had more support that 64bit XP. Also, i think Support has picked up for it.. All 32bit programs work on it, just not those old programs that use 16bit installers or are 16bit all together.

Have only tried Windows 7 on VMWare on top of XP because i was not in the mood to install it on its own partition. I just wanted to see the GUI and stuff like that. But now I am hearing raving reviews, so i may have to try it soon on a real Part.

 

[Rich'[ard]]

Mtotho is damn right

i just got 64bit cos it sounded cool
but i knew it was useful.
all my 32bit programs i used on XP worked, it's just those very few programs like Firewalls, some drivers (my G15 keyboard and G3 mouse need 64bit drivers) and that's about all i had to re download.

Mtotho, i've read heaps of good news about w7. reckon it's going to acutally be...'satisfactory' ? lol. i hope, for MS's sake, that w7 is going to be rockin'

 

[gottcha]

what i reccommend is that you look up some links that tell you ways to speed up Vista. this can be done by disabling some processes like tablet PC or readyboost etc. (i don't think you can use Tablet PC features when you're using a Desktop).QUOTE]


If your disable tablet PC you lose your snipping tool. Just thought i would throw that in cuz it took me awhile to figure out where it went.

To the OP yes go 64 bit it worth it.

 

[medo145]

+1 64bit !!!

btw, you can use tablet pc features using a drawing tablet (if you have one that is)

 

[Capt Fiero]

Thank you for all the heads up guys. Looks like 64bit here I come. I guess if I have a chip that can handle it, I might as well use it. Thinking in the back of my head, I have an "Appz" drive with nearly 300gig of my favorite apps I wonder how many of them will really work. Some are from the days of Window 2000 era.

I guess I am going to find out. Thanks again for the info.

 

[jaymz9350]

Thank you for all the heads up guys. Looks like 64bit here I come. I guess if I have a chip that can handle it, I might as well use it. Thinking in the back of my head, I have an "Appz" drive with nearly 300gig of my favorite apps I wonder how many of them will really work. Some are from the days of Window 2000 era.

I guess I am going to find out. Thanks again for the info.

So far the only apps I've had any problems with on Vista 64 is any that have an OS check built into the installer.

 

[Rich'[ard]]

what i reccommend is that you look up some links that tell you ways to speed up Vista. this can be done by disabling some processes like tablet PC or readyboost etc. (i don't think you can use Tablet PC features when you're using a Desktop).QUOTE]


If your disable tablet PC you lose your snipping tool. Just thought i would throw that in cuz it took me awhile to figure out where it went.

To the OP yes go 64 bit it worth it.

what's a snipping tool?
i can't find the link i used, but here are some things that i disabled (not sure if they actually performance or not)

Internet Printing Client
Windows Meeting Space
Tablet PC stuff
Readyboost features
Offline Files

there were many more like Aero and the Sidebar, but i want those. the ones above seemed unnecessary for me.

 

[Mr.Guvernment]

get Home Premium, you likely dont need Ultimate unless your running a domain controller and need that access
Ultimate = Home Premium + Buisness in one.

These days there is no reason not to go 64bit unless you have same old camera, printer, or scanner that likely wont have proper drivers, but i am talking like really olddddd periphials

 

[Oroka Sempai]

Appearantly Windows 7 64bit 7000 just got leaked to Bittorent... maybe worth a try.

 

[Capt Fiero]

what's a snipping tool?

Snipping tool is the greatest invention next to sliced bread. Well maybe not, but still really cool. No more having to print screen, open paint, control V to past and then save as jpeg for screen shots. Open the windows snipping tool, drag your cursor over what you want to save, hit enter, and in one motion, windows grabs the shot, saves it as a jpeg and you are ready to email edit or whatever. I actually found it in Windows 7 first, then dug around Vista and found it in Vista too. Pretty cool little add on.

Thanks for the suggestions on what proc's to kill. I have read a few pages regarding that.

P.S. Thanks for the suggestion on torrent, however isn't bit torrent suggestions still a major no-no on here. I've been gone a long time.

 

[Rich'[ard]]

Snipping tool is the greatest invention next to sliced bread. Well maybe not, but still really cool. No more having to print screen, open paint, control V to past and then save as jpeg for screen shots. Open the windows snipping tool, drag your cursor over what you want to save, hit enter, and in one motion, windows grabs the shot, saves it as a jpeg and you are ready to email edit or whatever. I actually found it in Windows 7 first, then dug around Vista and found it in Vista too. Pretty cool little add on.

Thanks for the suggestions on what proc's to kill. I have read a few pages regarding that.

P.S. Thanks for the suggestion on torrent, however isn't bit torrent suggestions still a major no-no on here. I've been gone a long time.

lol. WHOA. i'm missing out. i thought ctrl V in Paint was the only way for screenshots. and heaps of ppl have screenshots which are very specific, and i thought they took the time to crop but. looks like there was something that does it for me.

yeh, by the time you get 4gb ram, readyboost is pretty much useless. i don't think it was much use anyway. take it away! haha

a w7 torrent sounds tempting. but it's taking a risk, they may be filled with viruses.

 

[Capt Fiero]

Well I'm back. All backed up, formated, re-installed Vista 64. So far so good, everything has installed perfect, computer even seems faster. (could just be my imagination) Now for the long task of tweaking everything to be happy and get all the network configurations right.

 

[Rich'[ard]]

Well I'm back. All backed up, formated, re-installed Vista 64. So far so good, everything has installed perfect, computer even seems faster. (could just be my imagination) Now for the long task of tweaking everything to be happy and get all the network configurations right.

quote me in previous post : Vista 64 is faster (it was something like that)

haha!
congrats. hope everything works out ok. and put Aero on. it's super cool. btw, how does it work? are pixels taken out of the window frame or something?

 

[Aynjell]

So I have ready through some of the stickys about 64bit OS's. However I am looking at Vista 64 Ultimate. I would love to run Windows 7, but its way to hard to find drivers for even current products. So Vista Ult. will be the way I am looking.

I'm not sure that's the case, actually. Supposedly the driver model won't change, and if microsoft is halfway intelligent they'll stick to that promise, since the initial start of Vista was vastly hindered by lack of drivers.

Ok so I am looking for some advice on moving to a 64 bit OS. I got a new PC over the holidays an E8400 which I quickly overclocked to 3.84ghz. So far I love it. I am only running 2gb of ram, and from what I have read when I up it to 4gb I am going to need to move to a 64bit OS. I have not even looked into 64bit in a couple of years so I have no idea how the driver foundation has picked up.
I am running 32 bit version of XP Pro, Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 on a few machines and am really happy with Windows 7, personally I think it is the best OS Microsoft has released bar none.
Aside from the boost in ram allowed what are the pros and cons of running a 64bit OS. All of my hardware is new, as I moved from a S478 P4 2.8C Northwood to the new S775 E8400 on a Biostar motherboard. Moved from an AGP Video card to a PCI-E Video card, 2 single sticks of 1gb Crucial Ram, and all my HD’s are now Sata. If I make the jump I am going to go to Vista Ultimate 64.

I never really cared for 64 bit operating systems. Whther it be any flavour of linux, Vista, or XP, I found that 64 bit software caused conflicts in way too many areas. Plugins for applications are fewer and far in between or at least they were...

There are several applications that refuse to run or be installed on a 64 bit OS. I tend to play a lot of older games since well... I guess the word to use is classics...

Is it even worth the jump to a 64bit OS?

On a side note, who else is playing around with Windows 7? In my opinion, it takes the best of XP and the few good parts of Vista and throws the rest out. It’s faster than Vista, even in beta; it is less buggy than Vista. I think when MS releases it fully, if they don’t screw it up between now and then, it’s going to be the best OS they have ever released. For the record I am running Beta Build 7000.

I would say my official opinion is 64 bit OS only if you feel you need 4GB of RAM. I myself will most likely go i7 if I upgrade in the near future... for the triple channel 3GB (which runs 32 bit os's fine) of ram so I can continue on the 32 bit path especially if Microsoft continues to allow thier serieals to work on either 32 bit or 64 bit OS's.

 

[DanFraser]

I'm not sure that's the case, actually. Supposedly the driver model won't change, and if microsoft is halfway intelligent they'll stick to that promise, since the initial start of Vista was vastly hindered by lack of drivers.

I never really cared for 64 bit operating systems. Whther it be any flavour of linux, Vista, or XP, I found that 64 bit software caused conflicts in way too many areas. Plugins for applications are fewer and far in between or at least they were...

There are several applications that refuse to run or be installed on a 64 bit OS. I tend to play a lot of older games since well... I guess the word to use is classics...

I would say my official opinion is 64 bit OS only if you feel you need 4GB of RAM. (etc)

Vista was hindered less than XP when it came out.

64bit has also really taken off recently, I've seen many a new PC in stores with 64bit installed instead of 32bit.

You want a classic game? Theme Hospital runs on 64bit without issues You just have to install on a 32bit setup and transfer the program files over because the installer is 16bit.

Get 64bit, turn off your page file when you have 4GB. Like me, I'm about to get 8GB ram, stupidly cheap. It's already amazing with 4GB. If you can't afford 4-8GB ram now then you can't afford the electric to run a computer

 

[Aynjell]

Vista was hindered less than XP when it came out.

64bit has also really taken off recently, I've seen many a new PC in stores with 64bit installed instead of 32bit.

You want a classic game? Theme Hospital runs on 64bit without issues You just have to install on a 32bit setup and transfer the program files over because the installer is 16bit.

Get 64bit, turn off your page file when you have 4GB. Like me, I'm about to get 8GB ram, stupidly cheap. It's already amazing with 4GB. If you can't afford 4-8GB ram now then you can't afford the electric to run a computer

I've seen these things too, but there's only really one benefit: more memory allocation. If you don't need it, it's not worth it. In every other area you're bound to have issues.

 

[Mr.Guvernment]

Appearantly Windows 7 64bit 7000 just got leaked to Bittorent... maybe worth a try.

Do not talk about torrents and piracy it is against the rules.


public beta is out Jna 9th

DO NOT turn off your page file!! 2 reasons

1. You cant actually turn it off %100 i recall hearing (it is always on in some way)
2. some programs will NOT work with out a page file.

Windows will only page data to the page file if it needs to, and if it is, you need more ram, and some programs are just written to use the page file.

 

[Rich'[ard]]

turn off Readyboost. everybody here has like 4gb+ memory. i don't see why anybody needs it here