Fuzzy Logic Fuzzy Logic

Why use 64bit?

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Why use 64bit?

from WinCustomize Forums

I'm just curious to know why so many people are using 64bit Vista. Most applications are 32bit only and won't run on 64bit.  Also 32bit applications with 64bit compatibility actually run slower on 64bit than they do on 32bit. Genuine 64bit applications should fly along of course, but there aren't many out there.

We had a similar choice when installing 6 new Windows 2003 servers recently. We ended up with only one 64bit server (SQL) because none of the currently available software (including Exchange 2003) would run on 64bit. All the other servers are 32bit. The future may be 64bit, but that isn't going to happen for a while.

So the question remains, why did you install 64bit Vista? I read about so many people having compatability problems with 64bit just makes me wonder   

24,669 views 59 replies
Reply #51 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I run XPx64 on my work system for the simple fact that I have 4Gb RAM and x32 anything will not recognize all of it. I do quite a bit with VMWare Workstation and I need that extra RAM.
At home, I also have 4GB RAM, but am running Vista Ultimate 32 bit. As soon as I manage to put World of Warcraft aside I will most likely upgrade to XPx64 as Vista just offers nothing at all for me.... (a topic for any number of other threads)  
Reply #52 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Even eight months on from the original post (did anyone look at the date?) the points are still valid. There are few 64bit apps around and most 32bit apps don't run as fast on a 64bit O/S as they do on a 32bit O/S. Quite a few don't work at all (see the meny posts here about 64bit compatibility).

64bit is not ready for prime time yet and developers just haven't the resources to pour into it    

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #53 from Stardock Forums Top
I'm using Vista 64-bit on my home PC and haven't run into any trouble at all. Every app/game I've wanted to run on it has without trouble. Hardware's been a bit more problematic, but only for wireless networking adapters. Seems no company wants to write a 64-bit wireless driver, but luckily some intrepid gamer did and posted it online for the rest of us.
Reply #54 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I use 64 bit because I have 4 gigs of ram. When I use 32 bit the OS see's 3.5 gigs which I can deal with, but I recently found out 1.5 gigs was being relocated elsewhere and games where only seeing 2 gigs of ram. I could deal with 512mb not showing up but 2 gigs not being used in a game? No thanks.
Reply #55 from WinCustomize Forums Top
most 32bit apps don't run as fast on a 64bit O/S as they do on a 32bit O/S.
End of quote


Fuzzy,
I have yet to see a single instance of that happen to me on XPx64. It runs like a champ. What is the source of that statement?
Reply #56 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yeah.. I run 32 bit apps just as fast as they do in the x86 OS, that statement is..... false.....
Reply #57 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Because Vista 32-bit is limited to 2 GB of RAM while 64-bit can address all of 4 GB (maybe more, I'm not sure). On my low-end dual core system, I often see more than 60% memory useage when I have lots of programs running. It's gone as high as 78% I think.
Reply #58 from JoeUser Forums Top

At one point of time I made the mistake of not buying a 32 bit processor, but choose for the "faster "16 bits. That was, until the 32 bit applications began to pop up. Especially when playing games, it was like watching a slideshow. Being a student at the time, I was stuck.


When was that? That could only have been Intel 286 vs Intel 386. But I was not aware that there was a time when a 286 was _faster_ than a 386 (which could also be used a s 16 bit CPU of course).

Which games would run in both 16 and 32 bit mode?

Reply #59 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have two 64 Bit Macs.

And although the operating system is 32 Bit, they can both run 64 Bit applications.

I don't have a single one of those.