Vista 64 bit
Isn't vista about to be discontinued?
Is the 64 bit processing actually supported by enough software to warrant the change? I've lost touch.
Windows 7 is in beta testing at the moment and will be released who know when?
Personally I still prefer W98SE because it's light and fast, runs without a swapfile etc. but, I have to have another computer with XP Pro on it for Video and photographs so I have two desktops. I bought a Toshiba laptop as well that had a free upgrade to Vista, but the upgrade site was very buggy and I never got the upgrade and am I glad. Takes up something like 1.5gb for a basic install.
shim
One point I would mention is that it benefits from as much memory as you can throw at it (within reason). My system currently has 4GB and that in combination with a quad core (or dual) I find the performance easily exceeds XP.... it's a much slicker experience. I can't comment on Silkypix as such as I don't use it in anger although I did try and evaluation version for a short time and didn't have any issues. My preference is CaptureOne4 which I find is an excellent PP tool.
Windows 7 is supposed to be Vista with all the problems removed, but they obviously have changed the name because of the awful reputation of Vista.
The only 64bit machine we had in the office was changed to 32bit because of the compatibility problems.
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Windows 7 is under beta testing till August 2009 after that Microsoft would decide new name/lauch date.
I like Vista but for better speed and compatibility with older applications I prefer to use XP professional.
Having run Vista on a less powerful machine, it is obvious that bigger is better! Runs perfectly fine with 8 cores & 10GB RAM with all the pretty features running! As for applications, almost everything that has been run on it would have been 32 bit native apps, but they all worked with no problems, main problems would probably be drivers.
Being able to run it with more memory is an obvious advantage, especially as apps / file sizes increase all the time. All the previous attempts I've had putting 4GB RAM into a 32bit windows machine has resulted in random crashing and errors, so if you do need the extra memory, then I would say go for it.
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My laptop is Vista compliant, but still had XP pre-installed. When my Vista was released a month later and installed, it was a nightmare. Three days trying to get it to actually install! I spent another week hunting down information on how to get the internal USB card reader to work. Then another week getting the K10D to be detected for tethered shooting.
Whenever it wakes up from hibernate mode, the RETURN key gets "turned off".
I don't know who finds Vista to be faster, but it sucks up so much memory and resources for background tasks (4G machine) that everything is slower than it should be. (and I've stripped all optional add-ons that come with PC these days).
Unless you NEED Vista, I would say hold off for Windows 7. It sounds promising. Even the current beta is getting decent reviews, including its stability. (Could Microsoft actually have learned from NT4 Sp2&SP4, Windows ME, and finally Vista?? doubt it, but will be fun seeing what happens)
Furthermore...now this is in theory and a bit of jargon from Micorsoft..but , Windows 7 was designed from the grounds up to sit on top of vista's current compatability(so to speak) as in, anything that worked with Vista will automatically work with Windows 7. BUT I bet there will be exceptions out there - but the point I'm tring to make is that I think there wont be as many headaches moving to Windows 7 as there was from 98 to XP or XP to Vista for example.
I have had to fix many computers that Vista was installed on and most had Vista installed when purchased new.
The major problem has been a lack of memory (RAM), too many manufacturers have added too little memory to cope with the demands of Vista.
The minimum requirements as specified my Microsoft are:
Vista Home Basic; 1 GHz processor, 512MB memory, 20GB hard drive, DVD Rom drive etc...
Vista Home Premium / Business / Ultimate; 1 GHz processor, 1024MB (1GB) memory, 40GB hard drive, DVD Rom drive etc...
In reality the memory is not enough, I would suggest a minimum of 2048MB (2GB) of memory, more if your system supports more.
32bit systems only recognise 3GB of memory so anything over this is a total waste. 64bit systems can utilise much more memory and I would suggest 4096MB (4GB) as a good starting point on 64bit systems.
It is well documented that existing XP users who have upgraded to Vista have quickly switched back to their previous O/S.
People generally have not welcomed Vista with the same enthusiasm as previous versions of Windows. Most Vista users have had Vista forced upon them by the computer manufacturers.
I'm using Windows XP with SP3 intergrated (customised) without any problems.
I build / repair PCs for customers from time-to-time (only as a sideline so maybe 4/5 machines a year) and have been doing so since around the time Windows 95 came out.
In my experience I've had (read: my customers have had) far fewer problems with Vista enabled PCs than I ever experienced with previous versions of Windows. I actually skipped XP altogether for my own PC (went from 98SE to Vista 64bit) as I truly believed XP to be the spawn of Satan...
People complain that Vista is memory hungry but then *every* new OS places significantly higher demands on hardware (including memory) than the one it replaces. The moral of the story is that unless you're prepared to upgrade your hardware then stick with the OS you've got - if you want the latest OS then be prepared for a full overhaul to make it run properly.
Just my $0.02
Any views on this ?
Edit: also what's your experience of installing the beta ? Did you have to re-install programmes ? Did you lose any data at all ?
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5083 posts
17 years
Surrey
I am thinking of changing my OS from XP to Vista.
Can anyone tell me if Silkypix will work in Vista 64-bit ?
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