Well the strict answer to your question is: NO.
DX10 strictly is available under Windows Vista. Vista is available in EITHER 32 bit OR 64 bit versions,
though depending on what edition and packaging you buy you may get an activation key that lets you
use EITHER 32 or 64 bit versions depending on which one you want to run. For many packaging versions
they sell you a 32 bit only CD and if you want to be able to install the 64 bit Vista you'll have to borrow or
buy (like $10 for the media) a 64 bit install CD so that you'll have the 64 bit install files to use with your
key you already had.
Now DX10 *style* effects MAY be available under XP with DX9 (there is NO DX10 software package
that you can install for XP32 or XP-Pro or XP-64) or LINUX OpenGL or whatever by using extended
shader API calls to the graphics hardware to access some of the functions beyond what plain DX9 or
OPENGL can offer. E.g. you can program the card to take more full advantage of its new capabilities
WITHOUT using the DX10 API in some limited circumstances, so that can get you certain EFFECTS that
you'd expect to see only in DX10 without actually USING DX10 and thus maybe being able to run
that software on XP or LINUX or whatever. Whether they actually DO THAT in a given version of
software, i.e. Crysis Demo, UT3 Demo, et. al., I don't know.
So you're probably missing out on SOMETHING (besides a crappy MeII OS) if you don't run
VISTA and DX10 on an 8800 series card, though exactly how much of the DX10 effects you can get
ANYWAY even under DX9 with XP or whatever isn't always cut and dried as to the answer.
Now if you don't run a 64 bit OS of some kind (XP-Pro-64, XP-64, Vista-64, LINUX X86_64, whatever)
you WILL be in general unable to fully use in software more than about 3.5 GBytes of memory
in your system, though, so that's the main benefit of 64 bit OS versions.
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