Xp Pro to 64 bit xp or vista

[Ryuken]

So ram these are gettin cheaper and i was thinking of gettin 4gig of ram but i know xp doesn't support that much ram and i need to get a 64 bit OS. I don't really want to switch to vista and i dunno how well the 64 bit xp works. right now i have 2gig of ram so would add more ram be really worth all the trouble of upgrading my OS?

[Weirdy]

no 32-bit OS supports 4+gB of RAM

 

I would recommend Vista though; it's pretty good.

[Robert]

I've had 4gb ram in my XP machine for years.

 

And if you have more than that, there's a boot.ini switch to enable it.

[GodPigeon]

I've had 4gb ram in my XP machine for years.

 

And if you have more than that, there's a boot.ini switch to enable it.

Wha? Do you mind expanding on that?

[Robert]

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platf...PAE/PAEdrv.mspx (very technical)

 

Actually, looks like xp cannot use more than 4gb physical ram.

You'd probably have to upgrade to server 2003 or similar, where you can have something like 32GB.

[ken_cinder]

32bit OS' can use 4GB, up to reserved address space for hardware.

All expansion hardware (Video cards, sound cards, network cards etc etc) are memory mapped, so they use up address space that would otherwise be physical RAM.

The average user with 4GB of RAM will wind up with something like 3.6GB of usable RAM. More with less expansion hardware, less with more hardware.

[charlie12]

i dunno how well the 64 bit xp works.

 

It works well if you can get the right drivers for your hardware. Also some 32bit apps won't install and need modifying - check the msfn.org forums for more information.

 

Vista 64bit supports more hardware and is the better option.

[chichi]

Hello.

What about choosing between XP pro 64-bit and Vista Ultimate 64-bit, but just in terms of using it for games emulation like in MAME. Does it make much difference in performance using MAME/Emu's in general on XP to that on Vista?? Especially when running roms that require more processing power.

 

I've just bought THIS laptop. It won't arrive till Friday so just wanted to find out some info. I've not played on any emulators for a while so I don't know how up to scratch things are between the two OS's when using emulators in general.

 

I really hope Vista picks up my USB PS2 to PC pad converters if I stick with Vista.... Otherwise it's going to have to be a long downgrade process to XP.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

[ken_cinder]

I've run a 64bit OS, with 64bit executables that also have 32bit executables by default or available.

 

Given the hassle for drivers, and the fact that 16bit apps will not under ANY circumstances run, it's not worth it. Very few things actually take advantage of the 64bit architecture, there are problems with numerous 32bit apps and like I stated ANYTHING 16bit simply doesn't work.

 

Why does 16bit stuff matter? Because even up until a couple years ago, plenty of installers for apps/games were 16bit. That means your older software that you still enjoy now on a 32bit OS, if it uses a 16bit installer or main executable.........or even 16bit libraries will not run AT ALL.

 

Unless your goal is running a server, my suggestion is to stay away from 64bit OS' right now. The cons outweigh the pros, and added performance is not one of the pros.

 

Vista is a resource hogging POS regardless of architecture, stick to XP.

[svt_lightning]

thats a very good point!' just mu 2 cents if i was going with 64 bit i choose XP-Pro any day

[chichi]

You know what, forget about even finding out if something like MAME works better on a 64-bit OS. I just tried to transfer photo's on a friends PC who is running a 64-bit Vista OS from my camcorder and it's having troubles. No driver support! I admit it's a fairly old USB 1.0 camcorder, but I'm not going to dish out more money just so I can buy a camcorder that's Vista user friendly. I guess it's time to roll back to XP in the end when I get the laptop...