xp 64 and SL?

I have searched this forum, but only turned up outdated info.

What should i expect SL to run like under xp 64? I'm figuring SL is a 32 bit program so not much gain..
Any special drivers? pair of 8800s..


Waiting to get stuff in the mail, getting kinda excited(can you tell.. =D)
I am making tigerdirect rich ordering new stuff!
Any info will stop me refreshing the UPS tracking page, TIA!

Not sure concerning SL. Always heard though that there was a lack of drivers for XP64. If you have problems though I might suggest skipping upgrading to Vista64 and jumping straight to the Windows 8 Release Candidate which is avalaible for free right now and will work until July of next year I think. Retail version will come out at the end of this year. Several people here have been running SL with it.

Thank you for that. Good mind read! I would at all costs like to avoid vista64. I have a family member with one, who has constant issues.

This will also be a good time for me to play with that RC. As i will be able to do it on a new machine, and not one i need to keep working.

Many thanks, I may skip xp64 all together. =)

I ran it under XP x64 from about last August until the Windows 7 Beta came out this year. SL ran fine. Nvidia has XP x64 drivers for the 8800, so that shouldn't be a problem, unless you want to use three of them, I believe that requires Vista.

The problem I had with XP x64 was drivers for other hardware. None of my printers worked, and I had to monkey around with iTunes to get it to work, and even then it never worked quite right with my iPod.

Any 64 bit OS will give you a performance advantage over a 32 bit one simply because more memory is addressable. The other repliers are also correct. I would skip XP64 and move to Vista SP2 or 7 when available.

I'm not sure what issues your family member might be having, but I've got Vista x64 on three machines here, and they all run like a dream. Vista x64 is hands down the best OS I've ever used. Whatever's going wrong with your family member's computer, I'll bet you any amount of money you'd care to name that the OS itself is not the problem.

As for Windows 7, I hate to tell you this, but if you're 100% determined to steer clear of Vista, then you'll need to stay away from 7 as well. 7 IS Vista. It's got a few changes on the surface, but under the hood, it's the exact same thing. All the hype about 7 being the "solution to Vista's problems" is just clever marketing. Vista got a bad rap in the beginning, from which it never fully recovered, and MS eventually decided to use that to their advantage as a tool to help promote 7, rather than continue to try to correct the highly inaccurate public perception of Vista.

Remember those Windows Mohave commercials, in which they got Vista bashers to say they loved it, simply by telling them it was something other than Vista? Well, they've applied pretty much the same principle with 7. They just did it with the whole world instead of to a focus group this time, and so far, it's been working like a charm for them. People are funny.

If you want to go straight to 7, by all means do so. The official release is right around the corner, so there's certainly an argument to be made that getting Vista now would be a waste of time. But don't go to 7 with the intent of sidestepping Vista altogether, because that's not what 7 does. 7 would more accurately be described as Vista 1.5 than as anything totally new.


In any case, as you can probably tell, I wouldn't recommend bothering with XP x64 at this point. While it's a fine OS in its own right, there's no escaping the fact that it's now five years out of date, and as others have mentioned, driver support for it was always a problem, even when it was current. These days, it's a dinosaur at best. Vista/7 is the future. Like it or not, XP is just about dead.

Thank You all very much!

Chosen, You have some very good points. I think you are right about our vista experience. I have not spent anytime troubleshooting that machine, i only hear the complaints. I will not take your bet. =D

Vista64 it is, perhaps with a dualboot for 7 if i am feeling super lucky.

Lots to learn! Thank for the help everyone! =)

Heya, i am using XP64 and Windows 7 x64 dual boot. after some time my favorite system is xp64. Windows 7 is nice but it crash more than xp.

Just an update and a big thank you.
I used the windows 7 rc64 for my creation puter. I am very impressed with that OS. Thank you for suggesting. I have even pre ordered.

One huge bonus we didn't excpect is the media center in 7. It is awesome and even works with netfix!
Sooo todays project.... Backup iTunes and movies from our home theater pc and switch it to windows 7, so we can use the new media center.

Thanks again for the push upwards the RC! I am sooo glad I didn't go XP now.

Just wanted to add:

I finally installed Vista Ultimate 64 and..... WOW! What a difference!!!

I just gotta learn their new ways of doing things (network security, etc).

The OEM version cost me only $189 on Newegg.com AND comes with a coupon for a FREE upgrade to Windows 7.



The ONLY downside so far?

To put in my hours & mileage for the week, I have to have Norton AV Corporate Edition installed to access the VPN and Website. I was given Version 10 which worked well in Windows XP. Does NOT work at all in Vista 64.

So it looks like I'll be using my laptop for that stuff till the company decides to hand us an updated version.

LOLWUT?

I've had w7-64 going for 3 weeks now and not a single crash.

XP had explorer crashes ALL the time.

System Specs?