XP 64 bit as opposed to Vista 64

[Dorkenstein]

If I go with XP 64 as an OS, would there be enough software compatible with it to get by or has Vista 64 overshadowed XP 64 in terms of compatibility? Thank you.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Look here. Sorry, I reread your post and caught the software part. I guess I'm not sure what you are asking as almost all software will run on any OS whether it take advantage of 64 bit or not.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
If I go with XP 64 as an OS, would there be enough software compatible with it to get by or has Vista 64 overshadowed XP 64 in terms of compatibility? Thank you.

Vista 64 will be more compatible than XP64, especially going forward, but both will probably be very good.

Either way, XP64 is pointless IMO. You only need XP64 for 4gb+ ram, and if you have 4gb ram, you should be running Vista, period.

 

[George P Burdell]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
If I go with XP 64 as an OS, would there be enough software compatible with it to get by or has Vista 64 overshadowed XP 64 in terms of compatibility? Thank you.

Vista 64 will be more compatible than XP64, especially going forward, but both will probably be very good.

Either way, XP64 is pointless IMO. You only need XP64 for 4gb+ ram, and if you have 4gb ram, you should be running Vista, period.

Seconded. Looking to the future, Vista 64 would be a better choice.

You can always turn off Aero and anything else that you don't need. ReadyBoost would perform well with 4GB of RAM.

 

[rchiu]

I would go with Vista 64. Compatibility is really dependent on hardware/software vendors and if they write software/drivers, as well as run through Quality Assurance tests for each OS. And it's pretty much a business decision if a company writes software/driver and test it. It cost money to develop and test and if they don't have a market/need for it, they won't do it.

My brother works for one of the largest networking gear company's driver team, and he said that in order to get "Vista Compatible" label on their product, they have to have both vista 32 and 64 drivers. But he said most people just do very basic testing for x64 driver, if the product is mostly for consumer. If the product is for server, there will be more tests.

So you will probably run into lots of compatibility problem with xp 64 bit since there is really no incentive for companies to write driver for it. For vista 64, companies have to write driver to earn Vista Compatible label, so they will most likely write one. But it's not necessary 100% tested if the product is not geared towards 64bit platform.

 

[AllGamer]

there are more drivers for Vista 64
than there is for XP 64

 

[Continuity28]

Why not try the trial yourself and see?

Both XP x64 and Vista x64 have not given me any compatibility problems.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: George P Burdell

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
If I go with XP 64 as an OS, would there be enough software compatible with it to get by or has Vista 64 overshadowed XP 64 in terms of compatibility? Thank you.

Vista 64 will be more compatible than XP64, especially going forward, but both will probably be very good.

Either way, XP64 is pointless IMO. You only need XP64 for 4gb+ ram, and if you have 4gb ram, you should be running Vista, period.

Seconded. Looking to the future, Vista 64 would be a better choice.

You can always turn off Aero and anything else that you don't need. ReadyBoost would perform well with 4GB of RAM.

Is it using ReadyBoost really worth it? Wouldn't it be better just to get more ram? I can get 2GB of ram for what a 4GB ReadyBoost usb drive costs.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I jumped onto the xppro x64 bus right after it was released and I caught hell trying to find simple things like av programs. Now that was several years ago and I've migrated all my machines to vista, 3 on x64 and 1 32 bit and I don't regret it. Now that sp1 has been released vista feels snappier than ever not that my hardware is lacking or anything. When ms releases their next big os I can only hope that hardware vendors will have good working drivers at launch so that it's a smooth transisition.

 

[Noema]

In one year using Vista 64, there has been only one device which is incompatible, my Line 6 Guitarport, as there's no 64 bit driver. It doesn't work with XP64 either so there you have it.