Vista - Vista 64 or 32 ?

Hello all,
First post to this great forum.
I have the unfortunate need to reinstall Vista Ultimate on my home PC.
My OEM sent me reinstall disks for both 64 and 32 bit Ultimate versions.
I am graciously inquiring for experts' opinions on whether or not to load the 64 bit verson since my basic use will only be home office, some photo editing and some gaming. I have also read that there are a lot of software compatibility issues with 64 bit. Just looking for general opinions.
(My desktop is quite capable of supporting Vista 64 bit).

I appreciate the help !

thanks,

mzimmpa

i had a similar question
32 bit to 64 bit?

X64 all the way. Be sure to check for all the drivers you will need before taking the plunge. But in todays world I have absolutly no trouble finding x64 drivers and software that work just fine.

Good luck.

Thanks !

does that mean that Office 2007 will now work on 64 bit ?

thanks again.

Office 2007 always worked on Vista, whether it's x86 or x64.

I have Office Small bus. edition, Pro and Office 2007 Ultimate. All work just fine.

Office 2003 works as well.

Unfortunately, if your key is for an OEM 32 bit version, I believe you cannot use that key on a 64 bit install (i.e. you won't be able to activate it).

OEMs usually modify the BIOS so that the product key doesnt have to be entered, so when you run there CDs you dont have to type it in. has to do with something called DMI

I moved from x86 to x64 Vista recently, and besides a few hurdles with the Nvidia drivers and some applications compatibility issues, everything is working fine (except IE which hangs just before finishing loading a page).

Now, I know I may get shot by some users here but the truth is that I don't feel any improvement in system performance. The reason is that most of my applications are 32 bit so there is not any advantage in using a 64 bit system for them. I am able to access all of my system memory (4GB) but still, don't expect a huge (if any) difference.

Having said that, it's a fact that new mainstream computers are coming with a x64 Vista so it is definitely becoming the standard and you can expect new applications to come with x64 versions.

just changed to ultimate x64 and some apps do see a performance increase while system resources tend not to be affected as much, some quirky problems i had with x86 vista seem to have gone away now(not sure whats going on there).

but like most are saying the world is going that way as well there will be so much more support for it in the future and the benifits will be imense and i can run games and apps that didn't work with the x86 vista(wish i understood that).

take the leap you may not notice it right now but in the coming months and next year or 2 you'll find more software going that route some may not support 32bit systems either and just force the market to change it's going to happen.

good luck with your choice either way you go