I don't know if I am being a little dense here, but I'm going to be building a HTPC in the next two weeks and was going to put 4gb of ram in it. I know 32bit OS cant actually use 4gb, but is it worth actually spending the money on vista 64bit? (I have a 32 bit licence copy already).
Also if I do go 64bit will all normal software work on it or do I need specific 64bit software. Are there any advantages to 64bit?
Cheers!
is your license retail or OEM? If it's retail you can buy the 64 bit media from Microsoft for a small fee and use the license key you have.
almost all the video professionals I know who are using vista, have gone the 64bit route. Seems crazy not to. I've been using it since last August, and see no point in the 32bit version.
running CS3 apps, office 2003 + 2007, sony apps, COD4 etc. all smooth in my lil ol' world.
Most of the 32bit apps work in Vista 64 but just make sure that they do as I know AutoCAD is pickie and asks for the 64bit one when you try and install the 32bit one.
If it's just for an HTPC though, then both 4gb RAM is a bit pointless (though at these sort of prices you might as well stock up) and 64-bit OS too. It's not necessary or in any way beneficial. Add to that that some codecs can be an absolute nightmare in any 64-bit Windows version (entirely the developers fault, and in no way a Microsoft one) and it would just seem a bit pointless getting 64-bit Vista for an HTPC.
If that HTPC has some other uses attributed to it, then it may be another matter though, depending on what they are.
I've just removed 64bit Vista and put 32bit on after too many issues with the 64bit version yesterday- its not suitable for a HTPC yet (or more to the point, other software isn't) IMO.
For example - using anything other than the included MS decoder is hard - Want to use Purevideo with an nVidia card for example? - you'll need a codec from the likes of Cybermedia / PowerDVD or one of the others listed on nVidias website. Not an issue until you realise there is no 64bit version for most (all?) of them, which means no purevideo acceleration under 64bit in MC.
Sure the applications like PowerDVD work fine and use purevideo, but as the program and codec are 32bit media centre can not use it (64bit codecs only!). I was unable to find a 64bit version of the Purevideo codec.
Then there is the issue of not knowing / being able to change the codec media centre is using easily without going through the registry and finding GUID's yourself and inserting them into other parts of the registry with your fingers crossed.
Want to change tuner priority? Back to the registry(There are programs to do this in 32bit, but they don't work in 64bit - even though basic things like this should be available in the interface!)
I use 64bit on the desktop with no issues (relating to 32/64 bit anyway), but I would not recommend it for a HTPC. There is simply too many 3rd party codec issues, although FFDShow can help a lot - its not perfect.
If the machine is going to be HTPC based, go with 32bit Vista. Oh and let me take this chance to say how much of an improvement MC is in Vista over MCE2005. Well done Microsoft, now just hurry up and get Fiji out
Originally Posted by Saracen
cheers for all this... 32 bit it is then... oh and i will be using media portal for my centre as I like XBMC and as it stands Vista MC annoys me abit with the whole BUY MUSIC thing.
64bit is only worth it if you really need access to 8GB of ram,
otherwise stick to 32bit, as mentioned above - there are many problems with non-existant dfrivers
Agent: you have no problems with 64bit on the desktop?
Does your bank work ok with IE7 ?
No idea. I wouldn't use that god forsaken browser if you paid me
I said I have no issues regarding to anything thats 32/64bit based - which is true. I do have a few issues with the OS though, but these are not related to being 64bit (and the same issues are present on 32bit Vista)
Last edited by Agent; 14-07-2008 at 03:49 PM.
I have Vista 64-bit and my bank ONLY works with IE7 (which works fine). That's the only time I ever use that horrid browser.
Which bank is that?
I think there is a plugin for firefox which will allow you, tricks the server into thinking its IE.
FWIW, i have 64 and im quite happy, But if i was to do it again i would go 32 as i have seen no real benefits to 64 (apart from having uber amounts of RAM addressed) and it wont work with my PVR (the fault of my PVR manufacturer to be honest) so i have to dual boot just to have XP back once in a blue moon.
Egg
Yes, IE tab.
It doesn't "think" it is IE, it actually is IE running in a firefox window
Heck, IE7 is *safer* than Firefox in Vista due to IE7 being in a sandbox mode. Personally, I wouldn't use FF3 if you paid me; its the slowest -and most crash-prone- of the three browsers installed on this machine (in both XP Pro and Vista). I'll take IE7 w/ IE7Pro or Opera 9.51 over it any day, but thats just me. And the only reason I haven't gone to using Opera full-time is I still have some minor complaints with the UI (namely...the tabs bar being above the address bar...what the heck is that about!).
Still, I can't stand FF3 (how on Earth did they make it uglier than FF2?!). I hope FF4 will be better, but until then, I'll stick with Opera and IE. And IE8 is looking pretty sweet.
But that's just me. ^_^
Strange, im with Egg and have no problems. Have been for years, using FF1, 2 and 3.
I was not refering to that one, as rightly pointed out its actually running the IE engine in a FF window. There is another trick that does actually make the web server see it as IE. Does not mean the site will work, just that the browser does not get redirected to a rejection page.
autopilot: do you mean User Agent Switcher? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59
If you can't keep up, stick with reality...
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