Headlines - Microsoft: 64-bit market ready to go mainstream

[HEXUS]

With the installed base of 64-bit Windows Vista PCs on the rise, Microsoft has admitted that 64-bit systems are ready to go mainstream.

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[kalniel]

So can they drop the 32bit version of Windows Seven, pretty please?

[Steve]

I've been using XP 64-bit for three years.

And I even popped the AMD64 version of Mythbuntu onto my HTPC recently.

[Triplea4UK]

Vistas resource hungry so you have to run loads of ram this is one of the main reasons.

If 32bit supported 4gb+ then not many people would jump to 64bit and i think many people would of stuck with XP.

[shaithis]

About bloody time it was acknowledged.

Perhaps now I can get more servers installed as 64bit, been trying hard for well over 2 years and have received a lot of resistance, even when showing the costs benefits over buying enterprise editions solely for the extended memory support!

With Windows 2008 here and this statement, I might have a chance of making 64bit a standard (at least for my servers)

[SlayeRBoxeR]

When the 128-bit releases?

I wouldn’t pay extra money to upgrade it until MS drops 32-bit support or they can offer me freely.

[Steve]

Heh,

128-bit (addressing, at least) is a long way off from being useful.

[shaithis]

Its going to be a VERY long time before we see the need for 128bit lol

16million terabytes (16 Exabytes) of addressable memory space should do us for a while

[finlay666]

My main issue with 64bit vista is the enforced digital driver signing, my abit airpace card will not work with 64bit unless I disable the forced driver signing, which means at boot EVERY TIME I have to set it

I use xp currently untill this is sorted (partially abit's fault too though)

[bledd]

I wouldn’t pay extra money to upgrade it until MS drops 32-bit support or they can offer me freely.

if you have a vista licence, it covers both 32 and 64bit versions.


imo, they should have dropped 32bit support at xp/2003 and only made 64bit from Vista onwards

any cpu that is 32bit only runs like a 3 legged dog on vista, plus you need 4gb for vista to run well (task switching etc). if you don't have 4gb, and dual-core(or more) vista is pointless -rendering 32bit vista obsolete.

for the record, i'm not bashing vista, superfetch is amazing

[Lanky123]

When the 128-bit releases?

Yep...the main reason for upgrading from 32-bit is its 4GiB (2^32 Bytes) memory limitation. 64-bit has a theoretical limit of 2^64 Bytes of memory (18446744073709551616 Bytes or 16 Exabytes). As others have said, you probably won't be needing more than that in the near future.

Edit: A quick google reveals different versions of Vista-64 are artificially limited to a much smaller amount. It appears you are limited to 8GiB with Vista Basic, 16GiB with Home Premium, and a measly 128GiB with Business, Enterprise and Ultimate.

[cordas]

I just wish M$ would pull its finger out from where the sun don't shine and stop holding back the aceptance of 64bit computing.... They should never have distinguished between 32 and 64bit vista, and should have put copies of both on every disk with the relevant key. Its ridiculous that people who bought machines or copies of 32bit vista have to pay out for a full copy of 64bit!

[this_is_gav]

if you have a vista licence, it covers both 32 and 64bit versions.

Not all Vista licenses, but standard OEM or Retail do.

any cpu that is 32bit only runs like a 3 legged dog on vista, plus you need 4gb for vista to run well (task switching etc). if you don't have 4gb, and dual-core(or more) vista is pointless -rendering 32bit vista obsolete.

You don't need 4gb at all. I've said in the past that even 512mb is adequate on Vista in comparison to XP in the right environment, and that's from personal experience.

For a lot of us enthusiasts with our 20-page long of Programs and Features, yes, 2-4gb RAM is necessary, but for the vast majority 1gb is perfectly adequate - 1.5gb on 64-bit perhaps.

for the record, i'm not bashing vista, superfetch is amazing

Hell yeah. The sole reason I've stocked up on 8gb.

Its ridiculous that people who bought machines or copies of 32bit vista have to pay out for a full copy of 64bit!

Agreed. It's a tiny fee, but it shouldn't have been a fee at all.

x64 Windows wasn't ready for mainstream when Vista was released, but it would have been interesting to see how quickly companies like DivX would have pulled their finger out if x64 was the only option, or even if x86 was the one you had to order. As it is, on my last check, that example still isn't working 100% on XP64 or Vista 64-bit.

[s_kinton]

Nice of Microsoft to acknowledge this, but getting them to make 64bit drivers for their own kit e.g. MS Fingerprint reader is more difficult!!

[The Hand]

Hopefully laptops will start coming with 4Gib and Vista 64 on mass. I've seen one too many 3Gib ram laptops with 32bit Vista with the memory running in single channel.

[dangel]

My main issue with 64bit vista is the enforced digital driver signing, my abit airpace card will not work with 64bit unless I disable the forced driver signing, which means at boot EVERY TIME I have to set it

I use xp currently untill this is sorted (partially abit's fault too though)

It already is. In fact it always has been - open a command prompt (Windows+R then type 'cmd' in the box and press return). Then type this into the command line:

bcdedit /set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

...and voila, tis done! Reboot and it's off, permanently!