I have tons of 32bit software installed, in fact, I think other than Windows components, the rest are 32bit software. Even some software for Windows 2000 works fine.
Window Vista 64bit can work with a lot of 32bit software. As far i know, most problem only encounter on VPN software cant run in 64bit version and many problem with Creative products naughty: ). Well i dont really mind using 32 bit version as long everything works especially the old games. I will switch after 64 bit starting to become fully standard next two - three years i guess for my next upgrade
Other than a few software, I haven't encounter any problems with x64 so far. All latest games should work in x64 as well.
What is really the advantage of installing 64bit computing? Does the benefit outweigh the risk of not having some applications running properly?
Memory limitation is enough for me, especially when I will upgrade to 8GB when RAM gets cheaper. I don't have any applications I use that didn't work for me. Games included.
If I'm not mistaken, Vista SP1 supports PAE so the remaining RAM should be usable, albeit not at "full speed".
That would be the ability to fully utilize 4GB or more memory. I'm in the midst of migrating to Vista 64 in case I upgrade my notebook to 4GB.
The major reasons why x86 is preferable than x64 is due to these: 1. Most hardware does not currently have 64-bit drivers. Not a problem for me. 2. In Vista x64, any driver that is not properly signed will not be able to enter the kernel and will fail to load. Which is a good thing I suppose due to better security, but more hassle. 3. Vista x64 does not support 16-bit software. I don't think I have any 16bit software (Windows 3.11 anyone?). 4. Very little x64 software currently exists. True, but I can wait.
What about performance? Is there really advantage when running 32bit softwares? What about running 64bit softwares, would it be faster, if yes by how much? compared to 32bit
AFAIK, there's no performance advantage unless the application is designed to use loads of RAM. Then the ability to use more than 4GB of RAM comes in real handy.
With ram prices so cheap at the moment it makes sense to have at least 4 gig of ram in pc especially for games and photoshop.At a later stage u can always upgrade your OS from 32bit to 64bit so you can take advantage of the full 4 gig of ram installed. Just my 2 cents anyway....
Vista SP1 is not bad also, I believe the 'high' RAM utilization is due to the large chunk of memory 'shared' with the graphics card in order to run Aero perfectly
Aero doesn't use a lot of memory. What Vista do is prefetch your most commonly used applications, that's why the RAM usage is never below 50%.
Yeah, that's why I'm looking to upgrade to 8GB soon, especially when I use VMWare, photo editing etc.