Is my laptop better off with a 64bit WinXP?

Unless you plan on getting a few more GB of RAM I don't really see the point. With 32bit Windows the maximum it will detect is 3.5 (even if you have 4GB in which I currently do). If you ask me you will be far better off spending the money on getting drunk or yoga or something :).
 
Well, 64bit licensed Win XP Professional is free for me anyways :)
 
Then go for it.
 
Solberg said:
Then go for it.
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Well, I wanna know why, if there is specific reason to believe that my notebook will run stuff like lightroom and photoshop quicker, and have access to more ram, then I will.

I have been getting a lot of "out of memory" errors from pshop and lightroom while editing 30,000 pixel wide images lately.
 
If it's free then go for it. Laptop RAM is pretty expensive even with the general cheapness with memory at the moment. Without upgrading things I don't think the performance difference will be noticeable though (unless you like benchmarking perhaps).
 
XP 64 is an absolutely terrible OS with very little support from ISV's and OEM's. I would suggest trying a dual boot first to make sure everything works properly.
 
Bad driver support for winx64 apparently.

On my laptop and desktop (core2duo, amdk8) I use 64bit linux, which does have all the drivers so it works well.
But not really making a difference unless you want a huge address space or need fast 64bit floating point precision for scientific stuff.
 
Hmm, no my only needs are this out of memory issues, despite 3 gigs of ram
 
Put simply XP x64 is a backwater of Windows development. You'll get drivers for most common hardware (except Webcams?!) but if you've got anything even remotely interesting check first.

Performance wise it really makes sod all difference.

(ex x64 user who went back to 32!)
 
Thanks for the input guys, I think I will stay with 32bit XP then :)
 
Generally speaking if you dont know why you need 64bit, you dont need it. The only exception is if you wanna use 4gb or more (and arent comfortable with the 3.5gb limit on 32bit).

Vista64 I've heard is actually very good. XP64 was more of a test, not really ready or even meant for prime time. Stick with XP or Vista32 for now. When you need 64bit (and have apps that take advantage with 64bit) upgrade to Vista64.
 
Zorlac said:
Generally speaking if you dont know why you need 64bit, you dont need it. The only exception is if you wanna use 4gb or more (and arent comfortable with the 3.5gb limit on 32bit).

Vista64 I've heard is actually very good. XP64 was more of a test, not really ready or even meant for prime time. Stick with XP or Vista32 for now. When you need 64bit (and have apps that take advantage with 64bit) upgrade to Vista64.
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Except for random driver incompatibilities with Vista64. Half of Xerox drivers don't work, Google apps dont install properly, can't run Sandboxie..
 
I run Vista64. No problems here.
 
^ Same with me, been running it for a few weeks without any problems. Mind I have a very recent machine, but I still found all the drivers I needed, even for my WiFi antenna that has been with me through multiple computers.

But as others say, don't expect a huge increase in performance. Even using Lightroom 2 which is optimized for 64-bit, the performance increase is negligible... so keeping in mind most apps aren't even 64-bit yet, you're going to notice zero performance boost with most things.

Oh, and yeah, don't get XP 64-bit (Vista is a different matter). I tried that one and failed to find drivers for most of my hardware. Sure, Microsoft kindly provide their own awesome generic drivers for video cards, CPUs and the like, but that's not really much help.
 
Alok said:
Well, I wanna know why, if there is specific reason to believe that my notebook will run stuff like lightroom and photoshop quicker, and have access to more ram, then I will.

I have been getting a lot of "out of memory" errors from pshop and lightroom while editing 30,000 pixel wide images lately.
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Photoshop and lightroom aren't 64 bit atm so you wont get any advantage in that respect. The new versions of photoshop and lightroom will be 64 bit so will take advantage of extra ram and such. If its free go for it.
 
Sometimes I really wonder about Windows and all the 64 bit problems.

From my computer:
arjun@foxhound:~$ uname -m
x86_64

Everything works, everything has drivers. Do manufacturers really not want to support x64 vista for some reason?
 
Viper007Bond said:
I run Vista64. No problems here.
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Ditto. There isn't much of a difference. You get some extra security goodies due to new technology added into the new 64bit cpus, but thats it. If you decide to go over three and a half gig of ram than there is a reason, but otherwise it isn't worth it.
 
You're not going to see a speed increase unless you are running any 64 bit apps or if you're just wanting a crap load of memory. I would be concerned about certain drivers in Vista 64 and especially XP 64. I've heard that my X-Fi will have issues in Vista 64 which I don't know if that holds any water. I know my printer won't work, but that's what printer servers are for. I would say if you're not using 64 bit apps or need a ton of memory stick with 32 bit.
 
Cold Fussion said:
Photoshop and lightroom aren't 64 bit atm so you wont get any advantage in that respect. The new versions of photoshop and lightroom will be 64 bit so will take advantage of extra ram and such. If its free go for it.
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Like I said in the post above yours, Lightroom 2 comes with a 64-bit version an it's already out. :)

https://pic.armedcats.net/s/sh/shawn/2008/09/27/LR2.jpg
 
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