64-Bit versus 32-Bit...

It really is a bigger difference than you think.

The biggest difference I am finding is that manufacturers are very slow to adopt power users who have the where-with-all to install and actually use 64-bit computers. Some are better than others, of course, and generally the software giants like Microslam and Adobe are the leaders of the pack. Or so you would think...

Adobe took years to release a 64-bit Flash Player for browsers, but yet were the first in line to support 64-bit with Lightroom and Photoshop. I guess the software for the masses didn't outweigh the need for the few. But software isn't necessarily all that needs 64-bit support...

Think about the hardware you have and the need for specific drivers that allow that software to work on your 64-bit system. Dell and HP are leaders in the server world, their stuff is used by the giants (Google, Amazon, etc.) and even NASA is starting to gear their smaller stuff toward 64-bit computing. But you cannot run a 64-bit OS unless all your hardware works that is attached to your computer. This means display adapters (video cards) and sound cards HAVE to work, it is imperative that anything you might want to attach to your computer be allowed to function.

This includes perhiperals such as USB devices and printers. Now, Microsnuff has done a pretty good job of including whatever they can find in their newest OS's, but rinky-dink perhiperal manufacturers need to follow suit and either provide the drivers or post them in a place where people can find them such as their corporate website. If they can take the time to provide 32-bit drivers for Vista, there isn't any reason why they can't do the same for 64-bit OS's as well.

But I have seeminly ignored the reasons for running a 64-bit OS, which is why all of you have tuned in to this blog in the first place... SPEED. Not stability, and certainly not to show off in front of all your friends, but pure and simple, speed. The one thing that allows for this vast increase in computing power is the ability to address up to 16G (yes kiddies, that is 16 GIGABYTES) of RAM. 64-bit processors have been around for a while, but no one has really taken advantage of them until recently. The ability to cram 16G of ram on a motherboard has been around even longer, but to actually take advantage of ALL of it has come to life with the implementation of 64-bit processors and Operating Systems.

I can remember Windows Server Datacenter Edition, but it was geared towards multi-processing more that towards 64-bit and gobs of RAM. Now we can have both. But here is where it can get really sticky - What about quad-core CPU's? How do they fit into the mix?

If you think about it, and actually take the time to look at the 25-digit Product Key for your OS you will see that it is a license for 1-2 CPU's. What happens when you have a dual quad-core setup? Isn't that like 8 processors?

Technically - no. In practice, yes. It is actually 2 CPU's with a total of 8 CORES, that is, the ability to hyper-thread 8 different core processes at one time. Now Winslowz has had the ability to multi-process for years, but CORE processes are a much different beast. I am not gonna get into the details, as I have probably put many of you to sleep already with my psychobabble about computers...

Take it for a fact that more cores equals more power. More power equals more processes. More processes equals more programs running at once. And with all the crap running in the background on most computers we all need the most power we can get. At least I know I do... The ability to have enough memory (RAM) for all these applications (processes) is critical, hence the need for a 64-bit OS to be able to address more memory to give our apps more room to work, thereby finishing faster. It all equals SPEED.

And if you don't believe me, take 2 identical 64-bit capable machines whose hardware is configured exactly alike. Install a 32-bit OS on one, and an equal 64-bit OS on the other. (doesn't need to be MS stuff you can do this in UNIX as well) Tell me which one starts up faster, which one runns apps faster and which one can process a job faster. Now I know it has a lot to do with the surrounding sys-systems such as the drive subsystem and the graphics and such, but all things being equal, a 64-bit processor will perform better with a 64-bit OS in comparison to an identical 32-bit setup. Try it, you'll like it.