OT: Is the tide of 64-bit coming in

Xander wrote on 8/11/2008, 5:11 PM

I noticed looking at the Bestbuy web-site that if you were to buy a laptop containing 4GB of RAM, they offer you at least 24/27 choices with Vista 64. In the desktop realm for 4GB or higher, they give you at least 22/34 choices with Vista 64. I only counted ones that mentioned 64-bit.

Is this what Vista is destined for - turning the tide from 32-bit to 64-bit? The tide of 64-bit sure seems to be coming in.

Comments

farss wrote on 8/11/2008, 5:46 PM

I'm STILL trying to find out exactly what 64 bit brings to the table for video in general and Vegas in particular. I'm already conversant with being able to address more RAM, bravo. I just don't see how I can afford enough RAM to cache significant amounts of the video I work with. On top of that system reliability goes down as RAM goes up. Using ECC RAM is our best shot at solving that but a mobo that supports ECC RAM isn't cheap let alone maxing out the RAM on those boards.
Bob.

Harold Brown wrote on 8/11/2008, 6:52 PM

I would think that the advantages of 64bit would be more caching capability and perhaps some improvement with large data files. I have had some avi files that are in the 4gig range and I would think I might see an advantage with 64bit (and lots of memory of course). However, none of that really matters, eventually everything will be 64bit. I imagine we will see people running virtual machines at home each wanting it's own memory. It would be great to have a memory grid on your PC instead of just the typical hard drive access and keep everything in sync. You see those types of products from various companies (Oracle Coherence for example). I see a lot of promise for 64 bit at home in the future but today maybe the advantage is more like doing a defrag on your hard drive.

dibbkd wrote on 8/11/2008, 7:31 PM

So the Vista machines that BB is selling are 64-bit? Can you "downgrade" to 32-bit if you want?

I can't imagine the average consumer at this point having anything (much) that works with 64 bit now.

rmack350 wrote on 8/12/2008, 2:07 AM

I'm not sure that there is a real tide coming in but using 64-bit vista is much more of a possibility.

I think that memory availability is driving this as much as anything else. Just a year ago 2GB SO-DIMMS were prohibitively expensive, now they're affordable so laptops can have 4GB. As soon as that was possible manufacturers started realizing that they'd need to offer a 64-bit OS.

The same thing was happening a couple of years ago with desktops. Once OEMs decided it was worthwhile loading desktops with four 1GB dimms then they started to realize they needed an OS that would support all 4GB of RAM.

This is not to say that Microsoft was merely reactive with Vista64. I'm sure it wasn't very hard for them to forecast a need for it on a consumer level.

For the most part what you see in BB is marketing and backside protection. Since you can buy a PC with 4GB or more installed OEMS MUST provide a 64-bit option. If they don't do it then they'll have to field more support calls about why their products aren't using all 4GB off RAM, and when your margins are slim those support calls really hurt.

Rob Mack

Kennymusicman wrote on 8/12/2008, 10:33 AM

"I can't imagine the average consumer at this point having anything (much) that works with 64 bit now."

Most stuff works under WoW (windows on windows). You just use your programs as normal, and they run as 32bit programs. Added benefit is that each program can have 4GB just to itself.

More programs are beginning to appear as 64bit native. Which is about time too. It has it's benefits, outside of the video world too.

Laurence wrote on 8/12/2008, 12:59 PM

The big benefit of 64bits is the amount of memory you can use. I use Vista64 solely because I need to in order to address the 4 gig of ram in my laptop. It seems to work just fine for me in spite of all the negative press.

Former user wrote on 8/12/2008, 2:45 PM

"I can't imagine the average consumer at this point having anything (much) that works with 64 bit now."

I can't imagine an average consumer wanting to buy a 32 bit OS at all with a properly equipped Vista 64 box as an option.

Over the last two weeks, I have converted all our workstations (4) in total to Vista 64 and nary a single app has given me any trouble.

Granted - I bought a boatload of new hardware in this round of upgrades - but there was little doubt that Vista 64 would be the OS of choice.

Finally - I have given Vista a very rough ride in the past - in these forums and in others but I can eat crow when it's served. Vista 64 - on the latest hardware - is breath of fresh air and works beautifully.

In an odd sort of way - I haven't been this amped up about my rigs in a long time.

Cheers!

VP