Windows Vista 32bit vs 64bit?

[sahlinja]

OK, noob here. Hope this topic hasn't been done before.

I heard 64bit has compatibility issues, but it supports more RAM than 32bit. If this is true, how severe are these compatibility issues and how soon will they be fixed? Will 32bit OS's be phased out in the near future?

Which one should I get and why??

here are the specs for my desktop PC in case it matters:
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CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply
MOBO: ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Graphics card 1: EVGA Nvidia 8800 GT
Graphics card 2: EVGA Nvidia 8800 GT
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface
Hard Drive 1: SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Hard Drive 2: SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Optical Drive: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S

 

[XBoxLPU]

64 bit hands down especially with that hardware.

I have had zero issues the last 4 months of having it installed

The only compatibility issues that I can think of is finding drivers for your hardware but all of your hardware should be OK.

 

[blackangst1]

there are actually very few differences in hardware support 64 vs 32. Same with performance. Realistically the only reason to go 64 is memory. Go for it!

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: blackangst1
there are actually very few differences in hardware support 64 vs 32. Same with performance. Realistically the only reason to go 64 is memory. Go for it!

Yes today that is true but early on 64 bit driver support wasn't great and it has stuck with Vista 64

 

[Caminetto]

Don't forget to check for scanner and printer support.

My Canon LIDE 30 scanner has Vista 32 drivers but not Vista 64.

 

[de8212]

Originally posted by: Caminetto
Don't forget to check for scanner and printer support.

My Canon LIDE 30 scanner has Vista 32 drivers but not Vista 64.

this is the only issue I kinda ran into. My canon printer did not have drivers for 32 or 64 but when i plugged it up everyhting still worked.

 

[sahlinja]

I'm glad to hear 64bit doesn't have much hardware issues anymore. What about software compatibility with Windows 64bit?

I want to play Call of Duty 4, World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Half-Life 2, and all the next gen PC games.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: sahlinja
I'm glad to hear 64bit doesn't have much hardware issues anymore. What about software compatibility with Windows 64bit?

I want to play Call of Duty 4, World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Half-Life 2, and all the next gen PC games.

I can't find the thread, but two days ago somebody posted a link to a photo showing 400 games running on Vista 64 on his/her PC.

 

[blanketyblank]

You shold have no problem with new games, but older games you may run into issues. HL2 is probably the oldest in that list so that's the one you want to worry about. WoW shoudl have a patch by now if it didn't support it at first.