Vista 64bit Query (users opinions required)

[Jaffacaique]

Hi, sorry for asking what might be yet another similar question to others on this forum...

I have the 64 bit version of Vista and was thinking about trying it out on a seperate drive. But before I do all this I was just wondering what other users views were after switching over from 32bit Vista.

I have complied a list of all my software, drivers and games that I regularly use and have searched the internet checking to see if they are capable of running on a 64bit operating system; but only about 70% of them actually state that they will support it. I have tried in depth searches for the rest but as yet no information seems to be there.

The questions I would like to ask to those who have installed the 64bit Vista is..

+ Have you installed so called '32bit only' software and did it actually work ok?

+ Does 64bit Vista automatically run the software in 32bit compatibility mode or is this something you must configure youself?

+ If the 32bit only software did run was it noticeably slower?

Whilst I realise everyone will have different software installed, I was just wondering what 64bit users general feedback would be.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Jaffacaique
Hi, sorry for asking what might be yet another similar question to others on this forum...

I have the 64 bit version of Vista and was thinking about trying it out on a seperate drive. But before I do all this I was just wondering what other users views were after switching over from 32bit Vista.

I have complied a list of all my software, drivers and games that I regularly use and have searched the internet checking to see if they are capable of running on a 64bit operating system; but only about 70% of them actually state that they will support it. I have tried in depth searches for the rest but as yet no information seems to be there.

The questions I would like to ask to those who have installed the 64bit Vista is..

+ Have you installed so called '32bit only' software and did it actually work ok?

+ Does 64bit Vista automatically run the software in 32bit compatibility mode or is this something you must configure youself?

+ If the 32bit only software did run was it noticeably slower?

Whilst I realise everyone will have different software installed, I was just wondering what 64bit users general feedback would be.

All my 32 bit software works fine from common things like CCleaner,Firefox,Opera,Thunderbird,Nero7,8,EasyMedia ,AlZip,ZIPGenius,7Zip,Defraggler,OlympusMaster 2,uTorrent,Spybot,SpywareBlaster,PrintMaster16, OpenOffice and most anti-virus software runs fine to from Avira to Kaspersky to name a few.


Yes it will automatically run 32 bit software providing its compatible,most 32 bit software is fine however any specialized software you can/should check via google etc...

Personally you can't tell the difference speed wise.
You need to make sure you have 64 bit drivers for your hardware ie soundcard/onboard sound,video card etc...but in general its not a problem.


Game wise very old 16 bit games won't run due to no 16 bit legacy support in Vista x64(it'll run most 32 bit games ,my last count was 102 games installed) another guy here in the forums has over 400 games installed,again its quite easy to check if the game will run fine in Vista x64.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: Jaffacaique

...on a seperate drive.

That's doable, but not a good idea. You need to understand how posting/booting works.

Just install Vista. It will give you a choice of where to put it's files and folders. It will see any operating systems already on the computer. At boot up it will give you a menu where you can choose which OS you want to boot.

Removing a hard drive, changing the boot drive in the BIOS, etc. before installing Vista is a bad idea.

If you later decide to remove Vista, that's easy to do.

As for 32 bit/64 bit apps, Vista will handle them automatically. You don't need to do anything. They will run the same as they do on a 32 bit OS.

 

[Muadib]

I've had no issues with Vista x64.

Here's the thread the Mem mentioned. He's up to 442 games under Vista x64 now.

 

[daveybrat]

Shoot, i'm running Windows 7 64-Bit and everything i've installed so far has had no issues at all. I'm very impressed so far with the 64-Bit versions of Vista and 7, unlike Windows XP 64-Bit.

 

[eternalone]

I have windows vista 64 bit installed but ONLY because it addresses 4gb's and has good driver support. Its not bad, but its not Xp or Windows 7. It feels like a Mcdonalds operating system, thats all I can describe as. Vista is stable and very reliable now, but still it feels like a big cheesburger to me, LOL. Just my 2 cents. Use it.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

I've had no troubles with my Vista 64 install.

 

[BD2003]

Yep, havent had a single program that has failed to work under x64. Havent had to reconfigure anything, and didnt notice any slowdown. It just works.