64-bit Vista finds a home on consumer laptops
How about a 64-bit operating system with that 64-bit processor?
The 64-bit version of Windows Vista is not new. It arrived when Vista did. But making it standard on a crush of new consumer laptops being sold at Best Buy is a recent change.
HP's new Pavilion HDX model ships standard with 64-bit Vista.
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)All PCs now ship with Intel or Advanced Micro Devices 64-bit processors. Until recently, however, most consumer laptops have come with a 32-bit version of Vista. There are many reasons for this, two of the biggest being a lack of driver support and the larger memory requirements for the 64-bit OS.
But memory is no longer an issue. Many of the new sub-$1,000 laptops at Best Buy, for example, now come with 4GB of memory standard. Out of the 11 HP laptops listed as "new arrivals" at Best Buy, 9 come with 4GB of memory and 64-bit Vista. Ironically, the other two new-arrival HP systems come with "Windows Vista Business downgraded to XP Pro."
In other words, you get either XP or 64-bit Vista: 32-bit Vista is not offered standard at all in this list of new arrivals.
What's the difference between 32- and 64-bit Vista? Here's what Microsoft says: "The 64-bit versions of Windows can utilize more memory than 32-bit versions of Windows. This helps minimize the time spent swapping processes in and out of memory by storing more of those processes in random access memory (RAM) rather than on the hard disk. This, in turn, can increase overall program performance."
One potential problem is driver confusion. Some buyers of retail laptops may not be aware that they are getting a 64-bit OS that requires 64-bit drivers. HP, for its part, provides plenty of 64-bit drivers. For the HP Pavilion dv5t laptop, drivers include those for the Nvidia GeForce 9200M and GS/9600M GT graphics chips, as well as those for the Mobile Intel 4 Series Express chipset family. Keyboard, mouse, network, and storage drivers--among others--for 64-bit Vista are also listed.
Also, Microsoft publishes software compatibility lists at its Windows Vista Compatibility Center. Though photo-editing applications such as Adobe Photoshop and CorelDRAW are listed as compatible, many applications are listed as not compatible or "unknown." In particular, a number of games are tagged as "status unknown" or "not compatible." Popular games, such as Crysis and World of Conflict are compatible, however.
One other thing to keep in mind: older "legacy" hardware could be a problem on 64-bit Vista. Although many older devices have 32-bit Vista drivers, that's not necessarily the case for the 64-bit version.
Brooke Crothers has been an editor at large at CNET News, an analyst at IDC Japan, and an editor at The Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, among other endeavors, including co-manager of an after-school math-and-reading center. He writes for the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
Not quite. All current processors support PAE. But in client x86 Windows (XP, Vista) flavors, support for physical address over 4GB is disabled. It's enabled in x86 Windows Servers 2003 and 2008.
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=781497
Except it does work.
Maybe you should have checked before posting, hmm?
Cisco's decision seems a little short sighted since the proliferation of 64 bit operating systems is only going to increase.
32-bit means it can only ?see? 2^32 (2 to the 32nd power) = 4GB memory spaces.
The computer has to be able to see the RAM + VRAM + other devices on Motherboard, etc.
e.g. If you have 1GB VRAM and ?other devices? takes up 0.3GB, you will only be able to use a max of 2.7GB (4 - 1 - 0.3 = 2.7) .
In this case, if you install 3GB, you waste 0.3GB?if you install 4GB you waste 1.3GB!
I've been telling people all along that they should get 64-bit if they can. Too bad a whole bunch of people buying the 32-bit Vista's will wan't more RAM to run the advanced programs a couple of years out and they'll have to buy a new computer or just endure it with slower operation and less multitasking. Especially the gamers who will have like 2GB video cards. Oh well.
- by SakiZ1 January 29, 2009 6:20 PM PST
- I use Vista 64 bit on my Dell XPS 1330 and really like it. It uses 4 gigs of memory and a 2.1 ghz cpu. It is noticeably faster than my wife's Inspiron 1720 running Vista 32 bit, and which only has 2 gigs of memory and 1.86 ghz cpu. Very very pleased with Vista 64 bit's performance.
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(15 Comments)I have had almost no compatibility issues with Vista 64 bit.
Recently I did discover an old legacy app, Folio Infobase, which contains a lot of archived data, does not work with Vista 64 bit. What to do? I dowloaded Virtual PC 2007 (sp1) - a free download, and installed it. Then I installed XP and now run virtual XP inside and simultaneously while I'm in a Vista session. Whee! Problem solved. I was delighted in how well XP runs this way. For example virtual XP "boots" in 35 seconds, and Vista 64 bit takes 45. :-) Not clunky at all.
I will only need virtual XP on rare occasions for this one program. But it's there when I need it at the click of a mouse.
So...my recommendation, go ahead and get Vista 64 bit on your new laptop or desktop. Remember Virtual PC 2007 if you run into a problem running some old legacy app.
SakiZ