Virtually every machine purchased within the last few years is capable of running a 64-bit OS. You'd have a tough time finding a new computer that wasn't.
Anyway, the disparity between the 4.0GB installed and the 3.0GB available for use is caused by the hardware's own addressing needs. Depending on the specifics of your hardware, somewhere between 0 to 1GB of address space is already allocated by the time the OS boots (it's "claimed" by the hardware if you like), so that part of the 4.0GB installed is masked and inaccessible. (It's got absolutely nothing to do with virtual memory, whoever mentioned that.)
It's unlikely you'll ever notice a performance degradation unless you work with very large files in Photoshop or AutoCAD for example. Going over to 64-bit is a fair amount of effort to reclaim that memory.