Move to 64-bit complete! Works FANTASTIC! Info inside!

Alright, over a week into 64-bit, and I have noticed the following benefits/problems:

Tremendous WiFi improvements! Downloading while simultaneously having multiple browsers working. Major for me! W-o-W!

Much faster transfers from one hard drive to another! I've seen transfer rates of over 40MB/sec when moving or copying LARGE files. Again, very useful for me! W-o-W!

Startup/shutdown MUCH faster: Most noticeable on startup! It boots in SECONDS...It takes a mere 20 seconds from the fingerprint reader (at the BIOS) to having the desktop populated, with the hard drive idle. W-o-W!

Firefox 2 x86 users: I had initially been under the erroneous impression that the popular Tab Mix Plus extension did not work under Vista x64, so I had installed Session Manager, and it worked just fine. HOWEVER, the "culprit" was my having installed both Firefox 2 AND FF3 (Beta 3 a.k.a. Minefield) at the same time. I uninstalled FF3 Beta 3 a while ago, and just recently came to the conclusion, that it had probably interfered, and sure enough, that was it. I re-installed the TBP extension, restarted, and it worked. Then Session Manager. Uninstalled, rebooted, works just fine. So now I have ONLY TBP (which I prefer to Session Manager) for managing tabs, and no "quick links" on the toolbar are missing (which happened when I had both FF versions installed), and TBP works without any problems.

On a different note, I won two free games that run under Steam, so I thought, alright, perfect time to test the only app I had not yet re-installed after migrating to 64-bit. Not only does it work flawlessly, but the games even enter a "64-bit mode"...More realistic and visually stunning games I have never seen until now!

Lack of 64-bit plug-in's: Now the only things I am missing are 64-bit browser plug-in's, so I can use either Minefield (ideally when it is officially released) and IE7 x64. While there is a great workaround for this, I still have to run Firefox 2 x86 to be able to use Adobe's Flash and Shockwave players, so as to be able to use the web as I am used to doing. IE7 64-bit has the same problem, which is another reason not to switch to IE7 as my main browser.

The browsing experience with an x64 browser is so amazing, so it's a shame that I am forced to use FF2 x86, as well as IE7 x86, and I don't understand how anybody browses without, at a minimum, the Adobe Flash Player plug-in. There's one I stumbled on that works , but the sites that I frequent require the Adobe ones. I watch a lot of CNN and NBC News, and both of those, amongst many others, require the Flash player. Is anyone aware of beta plug-in's, or an ETA as to when they'll be released?

Note: For all of you who are weary about moving up to 64-bit: Vista x64 installs a folder called "Program Files(x86)", and IE7 is even installed in both x86, and x64. Your 32-bit applications are welcome, and they will, with few exceptions, work equally as fast on x64 than on x86! I am, quite frankly, amazed as to just how well Vista 64-bit works, and how smoothly the transition was for me. However, there are a few that (I am told) that will either run in a reduced functionality mode, or not at all, for that matter. I don't know which they are, as I have now installed every last application since I started my transition. From my experience, as well as that of several IT buddies of mine who run Vista x64, the ones that don't work (as well) are very few and far between!

I'll update this list when (if?) I discover any other improvements and/or issues with Vista 64-bit. However, so far, so very very good!

I hope this will help anyone contemplating "going 64". Feel free to PM me with any questions you may have, and if I have the answers, I will gladly respond within usually less than 24 hours.

Crunch