Windows XP64
Author
Discussion

_dan_

Original Poster:

2,392 posts

309 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2005
quotequote all
Worth upgrading to yet??

I realise that there are hardly and 64 bit programs to go with it yet, but would it increase the general running speed of windows?? Any other benifits ro reasons no to??

I've an Athlon 64 3500+ winchester, 1Gb Geil RAM & 160Gb SATA HD by the way.

Ta :)

ErnestM

11,621 posts

297 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2005
quotequote all
I would check to see if there are 64bit device drivers for all of your hardware first. That seems to be the major roadblock at the moment.

ErnestM

pebbledash

795 posts

296 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2005
quotequote all
XP64 has other issues, like you get two copies of internet explorer one 64 bit and one 32bit. the 32bit one is required to view sights that have active X controls and other 32bit code in them.

I use it at work as we are a software house, so we test all our code on Various windows platforms inc xp64 bit. the previos comment about device drivers is true, even the drivers that cam with my mobo, and were suposed to be xp64 bit ones did not work.

from the testing, i have done, if you ae not running any 64 bit apps (other than windows itself) then you will see little speed gain, however in the future the amout of 64 bit apps will increase and this will change.

IMHO, buy 64 bit box now, run 32bit windows for 6months wait for the 64bit stuff to start coming out and then switch..



>> Edited by pebbledash on Tuesday 2nd August 15:56

Zod

35,295 posts

288 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2005
quotequote all
I have it installed on a separate partition, but rarely boot it. It will be useful in a year or so's time.

zaktoo

1,401 posts

270 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all
this is some funny shit right here... I can't believe that Microsoft don't yet have 64 bit computing up & running, or that hardware device drivers are a bottleneck for deployment in Microsoft-land. What a wonderfully ironic situation this is...

Ciao

Zak

_dobbo_

14,619 posts

278 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all
zaktoo said:
this is some funny shit right here... I can't believe that Microsoft don't yet have 64 bit computing up & running, or that hardware device drivers are a bottleneck for deployment in Microsoft-land. What a wonderfully ironic situation this is...

Ciao

Zak


Not really a demand for it though, is there? I'm not aware of 64bit versions of ANY current widely used applications. Even the open source lot aren't producing 64bit stuff yet.

So you can upgrade to 64 bit now by all means, but for what?

I'm waiting for longhorn, can't see the point of XP64 myself. When 64bit versions of photoshop, music and video editing packages and the like become available, you will likely find the driver issues are long since forgotten.

JonRB

80,071 posts

302 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all
When WinNT came out (and in the mainstream, Win95) we had to learn how to flat thunk between legacy 16-bit DLLs and the "new" 32-bit stuff. It was a nightmare.

Are we going to go through the same pain in the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit, or are Microsoft going to make it a smoother ride this time?

ATG

23,804 posts

302 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all
zaktoo said:
this is some funny shit right here... I can't believe that Microsoft don't yet have 64 bit computing up & running, or that hardware device drivers are a bottleneck for deployment in Microsoft-land. What a wonderfully ironic situation this is...

Ciao

Zak
It's called backward compatability. It is a side effect of being popular.

malman

2,258 posts

289 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all

zaktoo said:
What a wonderfully ironic situation this is...

Ciao

Zak



No whats ironic is that unix was born before me and its STILL unpopular.

Bodo

12,603 posts

296 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all
malman said:


zaktoo said:
What a wonderfully ironic situation this is...

Ciao

Zak




No whats ironic is that unix was born before me and its STILL unpopular.
UNIX is to POPULAR what FORMULA 1 cars are to ROAD TRAFFIC.

malman

2,258 posts

289 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
didn't say it was bad just not popular. It has a purpose and I use it for it so does the doze

zaktoo

1,401 posts

270 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
ATG said:

zaktoo said:
this is some funny shit right here... I can't believe that Microsoft don't yet have 64 bit computing up & running, or that hardware device drivers are a bottleneck for deployment in Microsoft-land. What a wonderfully ironic situation this is...

Ciao

Zak

It's called backward compatability. It is a side effect of being popular.


It's called vendor lock-in biting everyone on the ass, that's what it's called. And yes, it's still funny today

Ciao

Zak

zaktoo

1,401 posts

270 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
_dobbo_ said:

Not really a demand for it though, is there? I'm not aware of 64bit versions of ANY current widely used applications. Even the open source lot aren't producing 64bit stuff yet.


Linux (and the BSDs - Free, Net and Open) has had 64-bit versions for absolute yonks. SUN and Alpha chips were always 64 bit, as were numerous other architectures.

Ciao

Zak

ErnestM

11,621 posts

297 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
_dobbo_ said:

zaktoo said:
this is some funny shit right here... I can't believe that Microsoft don't yet have 64 bit computing up & running, or that hardware device drivers are a bottleneck for deployment in Microsoft-land. What a wonderfully ironic situation this is...

Ciao

Zak



Not really a demand for it though, is there? I'm not aware of 64bit versions of ANY current widely used applications. Even the open source lot aren't producing 64bit stuff yet.

So you can upgrade to 64 bit now by all means, but for what?

I'm waiting for longhorn, can't see the point of XP64 myself. When 64bit versions of photoshop, music and video editing packages and the like become available, you will likely find the driver issues are long since forgotten.


Not called Longhorn any more. And it looks very interesting:

Windows Vista


ErnestM

_dobbo_

14,619 posts

278 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
zaktoo said:

_dobbo_ said:

Not really a demand for it though, is there? I'm not aware of 64bit versions of ANY current widely used applications. Even the open source lot aren't producing 64bit stuff yet.



Linux (and the BSDs - Free, Net and Open) has had 64-bit versions for absolute yonks. SUN and Alpha chips were always 64 bit, as were numerous other architectures.

Ciao

Zak


But why do I want a 64bit version of an OS that can't do any of the things I need a PC for? I also wouldn't get to excited claiming linux to be so far ahead eitehr - the fact is that if you want 64bit driver support for a legacy device or an uncommon device you would probably have to write your own driver. No thanks.

Don't get me wrong, I like Linux a lot, and administer several Sparc/Linux/Aix servers at work which I think are great. But for home computing, it's pointless for me.

Show me the mainstream 64bit Photo editor, DVD authoring, Publishing, Organiser, Database software, Games, etc, and when you do, I'll think it matters whether MS has a 64bit OS.

The fact of the matter is they do anyway - we've got a 64bit XP Pro system at the office - it's fast as you like, has full driver support, and works perfectly. Which sort of makes this thread pointless - except I maintaing my opinion it's purely academic until the applications are available.

I'm coming off like a MS lover here - I'm not - but I'm also not an ardent basher either. Call me a fence sitter if you will!

_dobbo_

14,619 posts

278 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
ErnestM said:


Not called Longhorn any more. And it looks very interesting:

Windows Vista


ErnestM


Indeed it does - i've got it loaded onto a virtual machine at the office - haven't had a chance to play yet.

Supposedly significantly faster boot times, 2 seconds to restore from standby mode, 30% faster application start up. I'll believe it when I see it for a couple of those claims!

malman

2,258 posts

289 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
Use whats best for the job at hand - thats not fence sitting its common sense

I have no axe to grind either way I just like winding up the evangelists (both sides)

pentoman

4,835 posts

293 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
zaktoo said:

_dobbo_ said:

Not really a demand for it though, is there? I'm not aware of 64bit versions of ANY current widely used applications. Even the open source lot aren't producing 64bit stuff yet.



Linux (and the BSDs - Free, Net and Open) has had 64-bit versions for absolute yonks. SUN and Alpha chips were always 64 bit, as were numerous other architectures.

Ciao

Zak



Yeah even the N64 had it ages ago like wotever

Zod

35,295 posts

288 months

Thursday 4th August 2005
quotequote all
Linux geeks will always attempt to hijack threads like this, but LotD (linux on the desktop - their holy grail) is just not happening.

Linux has no hope as a consumer desktop OS when you STILL have to use a command line just to install Firefox.

zaktoo

1,401 posts

270 months

Friday 5th August 2005
quotequote all
Zod said:
Linux geeks will always attempt to hijack threads like this, but LotD (linux on the desktop - their holy grail) is just not happening.

Linux has no hope as a consumer desktop OS when you STILL have to use a command line just to install Firefox.


I've had Linux on my desktop since 1998-ish.

You don't have to use the commandline to install anything these days, and in any case, CLI > GUI for most non-trivial tasks. Even for some trivial tasks.

Anyway, this thread was about XP64, and I _still_ find it amusing that drivers are now an issue delaying acceptance of an MS product.