I purchased a laptop last fall running Vista 64, and just last week 
built a new desktop that dual boots XP64, and Vista 64. If you are 
going to be running Vista, and you have supported hardware then you 
should choose the 64 bit version.

The positives are twice the data path, think of it as lanes on the 
highway. With 64 lanes instead of 32, things can potentially move a 
lot faster, and the system is more robust, and stable. However, with 
todays hardware, and software, that gain is going to be negligible. 
But there is lots of new hardware, and software on the horizon that 
will support it.

Right now, the big advantage to 64 bit is that it will support over 
the 4GB RAM addressing limit of XP32 bit. My laptop has 4GB of RAM 
and can use every megabyte. My desktop has 8GB of RAM.

The disadvantages to 64 bit are running compatible software, and 
hardware. Drivers of devices, particularly things like scanners can 
be a problem, and require new purchases.  As a rule,16 bit apps won't 
run on Vista 64. I haven't had too much problems with older 32 bit 
apps, but some refuse to run, and even install.

Acronis disk manager, and partition manger for one, my five year old 
HP scanner only operates at a basic level. Talkworks PRO 3.0 installs 
but doesn't work, my older antivirus program won't install,  just to 
name a few. All had to be upgraded. Keep in mind that older software 
can always be run in a virtual machine, using something like VMWARE, 
running something like Win2k, or XP32.

Laptops come with compatible software and drivers so this will only 
be a problem to external devices. And laptops come with lots of 
installed software, usually more junkware then you want, but it 
should have the maintenance tools you need. Just make sure you can 
run the external devices, and software you need to run, or that are 
willing, and able to upgrade. Check with manufactures for device 
drivers, and software compatibility. That way you will know before you commit.

There is no question that 64 bit hardware, and operating systems are 
the future of computing, and now is as good a time as any to make the 
switch. Good luck with it!

Mark Rode



>  What are the benefits and disadvantages of buying a machine with 
> the 64 bit OS? Thanks for your help.
>Larry
>
>

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