32 or 64bit?

[dudeking]

Right before I go and spend all my money...32 or 64?
I have used beta2 and RC1 64bit on my desktop and there were a nightmare. I could not get 64bit drivers for half of my hardware. And 99% of software does not work.
Is this likely to change with the official release?

Will it be like Linux software where most programs have 32 and 64bit versions? I just don't want to get 32 and find out I could be getting more if I had 64 or get 64 and find out that none of my software works.
I've just spent nearly £100 on PSP 11, I'm presuming that this won't work on vista.

Any advice would be great :)

[MishY]

If you buy the retail version it comes with both 32 and 64bit on the DVD(s) I have read. It's only when you buy the OEM that you have to choose.

But you must check all your hardware out first. Some companies simply refuse to make new drivers for their old products. I read today that some of Canons old scanners simply will never have 64bit drivers. So that has to be the best advice.

32-bit applications should work in Vista, but 32-bit drivers will not.

16-bit applications will not supported on Vista.

[dudeking]

Really? Well that solves that problem.
Know I think of it the beta did come with both versions.
Well I never expected 16bit to run, I have a 98se partition for things like that :D

Most of my hardware is up to date, I have no worrys of it not running.

Thanks MishY

[cHiNgY1788]

aww man my canon scanner... sigh

[dudeking]

Well shouldn't think you will have any problems.
You have more chance that the scanner will work than vista running on this beast :D
Intel Pentium 1 166MHz Overclocked to 200MHz with AthlonXP 2000+ stock HSF (how ironic)
64MB PC66 SD RAM
Onboard 1MB video card
10/100Mbps Intel Pro 100/S NIC
2.1GB HDD
8x CD Drive

lol

[cHiNgY1788]

hey i ran xp off that thing... hehehe

[Sir Yuck]

I got some old 32 meg pc66 if you want to brighten the "beast" up. :)

[cHiNgY1788]

nah its maxed out, need some Rare 64MB EDO 168pin memory

[Sir Yuck]

What games could you play on that thing anyway?

[dudeking]

I would love to see the beast run Vista.
The minimum graphics memory for vista is 128 I think.
Well only another 127 to go lol

and many blue LED and LED fans
I love that lol, anything looks good with lights
I had a strobe light in my old comp, loved it :)

[oracle128]

http://www.tech-recipes.com/microsoft_vista_tips1426.html

[l337_GuY]

4. Vista x64 does not support 16-bit software.

You may think that you never, ever run 16-bit software. However, XP actually handles this legacy fairly well.

How do you know if any of your software is 16-bit?

[dudeking]

If its really really old like from the windows 95 era.

Thanks for that link Oracle :)

[oracle128]

How do you know if any of your software is 16-bit?Run the program on your XP machine, and while it's running check the Task Manager. If the process NTVDM.EXE is there (and it wasn't before), the program is 16 bit. Course the other method would be to get access to an x64 Vista system and see if it runs at all. This shouldn't be too hard, 16 bit programs will likely be small enough to easily email to somebody who xhas 64 Vista.

[dudeking]

The only 16 bit app I still run is the original version of Doom lol

I'll miss it, but I'm sure I can survive :)

[cHiNgY1788]

What games could you play on that thing anyway?
Starcraft
Fallout 2
Diablo
War2
if i upgrade the video card im sure i can play counter strike

wonder if descent is 16bit, that was a mad game

[Murf]

Forget trying VISTA on the "BEAST" - don't waste your money, take the money you would spend for VISTA and do some upgrading.

Vista Home Basic Edition:

1 GHz processor
1GB memory
40GB hard drive with at leaset 15GB free space
128mb graphics memory (minimum)

[cHiNgY1788]

no no, i want to run decent on alienware

[oracle128]

The only 16 bit app I still run is the original version of Doom lol

I'll miss it, but I'm sure I can survive :)Doom is DOS, which means you can use DOSBox to run it (as DOSBox is 32 bit). The only software you have to worry about is 16-bit Windows software. Hopefully, someone will come out with a DOSBox-like 16 bit Windows emulator by then (or if someone ports WINE to Windows), otherwise dual boot will be required.

[dudeking]

I'll just have a XP virtual machine.
I really hate dual boot, I lost so much data last year setting up my vista beta, suse & XP boot system. I'm going to put up with the slight performance loss and do it the easy way :)

[oracle128]

Wouldn't you be better off running a Win95 virtual machine?

[dudeking]

Narr not a huge fan of 95, I might be tempted with a 98se virtual machine though.

[Sir Yuck]

What is a virtual machine?

[cHiNgY1788]

im guessing kinda like emulating a computer running X operating system

[lustigj90]

a virtual machine is a computer running inside of another computer of a sort. you have you computer that is say, xp, and you build another machine inside of the xp (Linux or something).