Thinking seriously about switching to Vista x64

[daveybrat]

I've had great luck with Windows XP for a long time now, but i'd really like to try a 64-bit operating system out. I have 4GB of ram right now and i plan on throwing in another 4GB since i can get it for about $36.

Is it worth getting Vista 64-Bit if i have 8GB of ram? I don't run any old programs, and as far as games go i only play the Call of Duty series. (WaW right now)

Thanks! 🙂

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Is it worth getting Vista 64-Bit if i have 8GB of ram?

Well yeah. The maximum memory your computer can use under a 32bit OS is 4GB. There would be no point to upgrading to 8GB if you are staying with 32bit. If you decide to go to 64bit definitely get Vista. The 64bit version of XP is nowhere near as good.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

I'm thinking of dual booting so I can keep my XP install the way it is. I would like to see how Vista x64 runs.

 

[mb]

Do eeeeeeet! Seriously I've been running 64bit Vista for a long time now and have nothing but good things to say about it. I wouldn't even bother dual booting, just install Vista 64 and you're good to go!

 

[The Keeper]

I've used 64-bit Vista and 8GB RAM for almost a year now and I have no complaints. Go for it, ditch XP for good.

 

[Canterwood]

Its worth considering that Windows 7 will be released in 2009.

But if you need to switch right now then Vista x64 will be ok.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Canterwood
Its worth considering that Windows 7 will be released in 2009.

But if you need to switch right now then Vista x64 will be ok.

Not that theres anything wrong with Vista x64 (I use it myself), but I'd wait it out for Win7 unless cost is not an issue. Even the beta of Win7 should be out next month, and if the pre-beta was any indication, it'll be an extremely solid beta, certainly dual boot worthy.

I'm personally holding off on a new laptop myself until they start shipping them with Win7 or promising a free upgrade with them. Its right around the corner.

 

[The Keeper]

Upgrading advantages from 32-bit XP to 64-bit Vista are obvious. But I'm still unsure what does 64-bit Windows 7 offer over 64-bit Vista? Knowing Microsoft, upgrading will cost a kidney.

 

[Tbirdkid]

im running vista x64 and its great. i havent run into any issues yet so far other than when i enabled cool and quiet, and the pc didnt like it. took me a while to figure that one out, but i got it...

 

[SickBeast]

I would suggest Ubuntu x64 instead of Vista x64.

When it comes down to it, Vista offers nothing aside from more bloat, a slower computer, and more nag screens.

Ubuntu is fast, secure, and efficient, plus you gain access to a ton of great Linux applications that you can't get on Windows.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I would suggest Ubuntu x64 instead of Vista x64.

When it comes down to it, Vista offers nothing aside from more bloat, a slower computer, and more nag screens.

Ubuntu is fast, secure, and efficient, plus you gain access to a ton of great Linux applications that you can't get on Windows.

Photoshop? zzzzzzzzzzzap.
Left 4 Dead? zzzzzzzzzap.

Sure it has a little bloat. But any c2d and 2 gigs of ram can handle it nicely. Slower.. hard to tell the difference between it and XP. Unless I were to run some benchmarks I would not be able to tell.

Of course I may be biased since I got a free copy from microsoft. But the reason I installed it finally is because it was on my wife's laptop and I started liking it alot.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I would suggest Ubuntu x64 instead of Vista x64.

When it comes down to it, Vista offers nothing aside from more bloat, a slower computer, and more nag screens.

Ubuntu is fast, secure, and efficient, plus you gain access to a ton of great Linux applications that you can't get on Windows.

Photoshop? zzzzzzzzzzzap.
Left 4 Dead? zzzzzzzzzap.

Sure it has a little bloat. But any c2d and 2 gigs of ram can handle it nicely. Slower.. hard to tell the difference between it and XP. Unless I were to run some benchmarks I would not be able to tell.

Of course I may be biased since I got a free copy from microsoft. But the reason I installed it finally is because it was on my wife's laptop and I started liking it alot.

Vista has more than a little bloat. Why do you think none of the new mini-notebooks are using it? Because they can't. It would be painfully slow.

As for Photoshop, you can run it through Wine at full speed, or else use Gimp for free.

For games you need Windows, but really XP is a better gaming OS than Vista hands down, especially with only 2gb of ram installed. You need 2gb of ram just to boot Vista, let alone try to run a game.

 

[JustaGeek]

I've been running Vista x64 for about a year now, and have no complaints.

But if I were to think about upgrading today, I would probably wait for Windows 7. I have really not found any great advantages in Vista x64 (even with 6GB of RAM) over XP, and the fact that it takes about 20-30 min on startup to load-up RAM with the Superfetch files drives me crazy. Even simple System Restore point takes about 20 minutes of the Hard Drive activity.

XP SP3 seems to be ready to use in seconds, and is more responsive on a similar E6600 system, with "only" 2GB of RAM.

Just my $0.02...

 

[The Keeper]

SickBeast, my primary rig runs Vista because I want a good all-around OS that runs games without problems. As a gaming computer it has above average specs. Vista fits the bill far better than XP, and I wouldn't switch back.

In rest of my computers I don't need Windows, they run linux, mostly Ubuntu. I even have a MacBook, which I found are grossly overestimated. I wish I had bought a cheaper Windows laptop instead and replaced the OS with linux. So much for superiority of Macs.

If you ask me, there is currently no modern Windows OS that would be suitable for netbooks, XP is no choice. Linux is currently the best choice on netbooks, but there aren't any linux distributions around that are properly optimized for netbook usage. I've heard Ubuntu 9.04 should fix that though.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I would suggest Ubuntu x64 instead of Vista x64.

When it comes down to it, Vista offers nothing aside from more bloat, a slower computer, and more nag screens.

Ubuntu is fast, secure, and efficient, plus you gain access to a ton of great Linux applications that you can't get on Windows.

Photoshop? zzzzzzzzzzzap.
Left 4 Dead? zzzzzzzzzap.

Sure it has a little bloat. But any c2d and 2 gigs of ram can handle it nicely. Slower.. hard to tell the difference between it and XP. Unless I were to run some benchmarks I would not be able to tell.

Of course I may be biased since I got a free copy from microsoft. But the reason I installed it finally is because it was on my wife's laptop and I started liking it alot.

Vista has more than a little bloat. Why do you think none of the new mini-notebooks are using it? Because they can't. It would be painfully slow.

As for Photoshop, you can run it through Wine at full speed, or else use Gimp for free.

For games you need Windows, but really XP is a better gaming OS than Vista hands down, especially with only 2gb of ram installed. You need 2gb of ram just to boot Vista, let alone try to run a game.

I disagree I personally prefer my Vista x64 for gaming over my very old XP which I have been using since 2001,ram is not an issue since a lot of gamers have 4GB anyway,besides I think this thread is directed at daveybrat and he has 4GB in his sig upgrading to 8GB so that is a non issue period(gamer or non gamer),anyway you could argue 2K can run any game as good as XP or better so where do you draw the line?... Don't forget security we all know Vista is better then XP.

DX10,DX11 will become important factors as some point for gamers so that rules out XP,Win7 is supposed be be nextyear but again we don't know what month or even if Microsoft will delay it ,especially if you look at their track record,Vista will still be around regardless so personally I say the choice is between Vista x64 or if you want to wait then Win7.

Ubuntu x64 wise well its decent but crap for games since you really need a Windows OS,and its not as user friendly as Windows either for a beginner.

For games you need Windows, but really XP is a better gaming OS than Vista hands down, especially with only 2gb of ram installed. You need 2gb of ram just to boot Vista, let alone try to run a game.

Remember the official requirements for XP was 64mb/128mb and 233 MHz minimum back in 2001,try and run a game on that now or even a fast boot,again its sign of times where both hardware/software specs have changed over the years,XP is a 7 year old OS and obviously has lesser PC requirements then Vista, but even still XP requirements have now changed since 2001.Look at all Microsoft operating systems and you'll see a pattern of hardware requirements increasing for each new OS they have released(Dos 6.22 to Vista) fortunately PC hardware has also improved over the years and ram is especially cheap right now.

Gone are the days where could play games with only 2mb/ 4mb(good old DOS days).

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: masteryoda34

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Is it worth getting Vista 64-Bit if i have 8GB of ram?

Well yeah. The maximum memory your computer can use under a 32bit OS is 4GB. There would be no point to upgrading to 8GB if you are staying with 32bit. If you decide to go to 64bit definitely get Vista. The 64bit version of XP is nowhere near as good.

Why do people keep saying this ?

It is far more stable than xp 32 bit, it runs the same software, and can be set up to use less resources than vista, while still giving applications access to large amounts of memory.

I think the same people that complain about fud and vista, need to take a step back and stop spreading fud about xp x64.

 

[Mem]

I think the same people that complain about fud and vista, need to take a step back and stop spreading fud about xp x64.

People forget that XP x64 and Vista x64 have no 16 bit legacy crap in the OS,this makes it leaner and you can argue improves stability.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Mem

I think the same people that complain about fud and vista, need to take a step back and stop spreading fud about xp x64.

People forget that XP x64 and Vista x64 have no 16 bit legacy crap in the OS,this makes it leaner and you can argue improves stability.

True.

And I have to thank MS for releasing Vista 64 bit. Lots of the hardware that didn't have drivers for XP x64 now has drivers. Seems manufacturers found it simple to just port the driver to XP x64 once they already had the 64 bit vista version.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: masteryoda34

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Is it worth getting Vista 64-Bit if i have 8GB of ram?

Well yeah. The maximum memory your computer can use under a 32bit OS is 4GB. There would be no point to upgrading to 8GB if you are staying with 32bit. If you decide to go to 64bit definitely get Vista. The 64bit version of XP is nowhere near as good.

Why do people keep saying this ?

It is far more stable than xp 32 bit, it runs the same software, and can be set up to use less resources than vista, while still giving applications access to large amounts of memory.

I think the same people that complain about fud and vista, need to take a step back and stop spreading fud about xp x64.

Very little driver support... otherwise it is an awesome OS.

 

[Rabbits]

You guys make me regret installing 32-bit Vista. 🙁

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: masteryoda34

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Is it worth getting Vista 64-Bit if i have 8GB of ram?

Well yeah. The maximum memory your computer can use under a 32bit OS is 4GB. There would be no point to upgrading to 8GB if you are staying with 32bit. If you decide to go to 64bit definitely get Vista. The 64bit version of XP is nowhere near as good.

Why do people keep saying this ?

It is far more stable than xp 32 bit, it runs the same software, and can be set up to use less resources than vista, while still giving applications access to large amounts of memory.

I think the same people that complain about fud and vista, need to take a step back and stop spreading fud about xp x64.

Very little driver support... otherwise it is an awesome OS.

What x64 drivers are not available ?

 

[zerogear]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: masteryoda34

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Is it worth getting Vista 64-Bit if i have 8GB of ram?

Well yeah. The maximum memory your computer can use under a 32bit OS is 4GB. There would be no point to upgrading to 8GB if you are staying with 32bit. If you decide to go to 64bit definitely get Vista. The 64bit version of XP is nowhere near as good.

Why do people keep saying this ?

It is far more stable than xp 32 bit, it runs the same software, and can be set up to use less resources than vista, while still giving applications access to large amounts of memory.

I think the same people that complain about fud and vista, need to take a step back and stop spreading fud about xp x64.

Lack of drivers.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

For games you need Windows, but really XP is a better gaming OS than Vista hands down, especially with only 2gb of ram installed. You need 2gb of ram just to boot Vista, let alone try to run a game.

This is not true at all. Vista will run well with 1GB byself and be snappy too. Ideal for gaming? No, but 2GB will be fine for gaming. When I first installed Vista 64, I had 2GB of RAM. The OS was fast, stable and ran nearly all my games on parity with XP. The exceptions were a few old, defunct titles that required some tweaking. My further upgrades to 4 and 8GB were done mainly because RAM was cheap.

Mem's post goes into much more detail though.

 

[Canterwood]

Originally posted by: zerogear

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: masteryoda34

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Is it worth getting Vista 64-Bit if i have 8GB of ram?

Well yeah. The maximum memory your computer can use under a 32bit OS is 4GB. There would be no point to upgrading to 8GB if you are staying with 32bit. If you decide to go to 64bit definitely get Vista. The 64bit version of XP is nowhere near as good.

Why do people keep saying this ?

It is far more stable than xp 32 bit, it runs the same software, and can be set up to use less resources than vista, while still giving applications access to large amounts of memory.

I think the same people that complain about fud and vista, need to take a step back and stop spreading fud about xp x64.

Lack of drivers.

Depends on your hardware.
There's some smaller lazy manufacturers that don't provide drivers, but fortunately for me I don't use their hardware. 😀
Pretty much all the major vendors like Intel, ATI, Nvidia, Creative, Realtek etc provide good solid XP x64 drivers.

The actual OS itself though is very good, stable and reliable. :thumbsup:

 

[SolMiester]

Question, can you use the same key for x64 Vista as for x86, i have a nagging idea that the bit version didnt matter, only the different vista versions as in business, basic, home etc...