Is there any interest in moving from a 32 to 64 bit OS

The primary point has already been stated, for the 64 bit versions of Windows XP and Vista, you will need more then 3GB of memory and a larger bus speed which will produce a consequential increase in performance with applications designed for Windows 64. Here, the memory use is only limited to the amount of DDR installed (it limited to 128 GB to be more precise, for the “Integral”, “Professional” or “Enterprise” versions, while the “Basic Home” version is limited to 8GB and the “Premium Home” to 16GB).

Be careful! Under Windows Vista with the installation of the recent Service Pack 1, your 4 GB of memory will be recognized but not fully exploited! This doesn’t change anything, as it is simply an update to your system properties which, unfortunately, means that the system in reality continues to work with only 3GB of memory!

For the programs that don’t support 64 bits, these OS’s adopt a partial compatibility for 32 bit applications. Nothing prevents you from installing your programs and seeing what happens. The WoW64 subsystem (Windows-on-Windows 64-bit) is mostly capable of running these programs. To know if applications are 32 or 63 bits, launch XP or Vista’s Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del). If nothing is indicated, it means that the programs are running in 64 bits natively. If this isn’t the case, then a line will appear titles “*32”. Under Windows Vista 64, there is also the presence of two distinct folders. A “Programs” folder for the 64 bit applications and another “Program Files (x86)” for the others.

The main programs that work are listed on 3DVelocity. You can also take advantage of the emulated MS-DOS window. You should know that your 32 bit programs won’t be faster on the 64 bit versions of XP or Vista. To see an improvement in performance, you will have to move to versions of the program that have been specifically designed for x64. On some programs, the Vista x64 logo is present, indicating that it is certified.

Performance of a 64 bit OS
It is certain that the performance under XP and Vista 64 is better with the adapted programs. Rather then creating a page of different tests and performance, we will take advantage of studies that are already present on the internet. The reviews at PCStats, Extrememetech, Phoronix and 64-bit-computers are a good place to start. If you want to get your own opinion on a 64 bit OS, with your own hardware, we recommend you try the process with Geekbench (Windows, Mac OS, Linux).

Cost of the migration to XP/Vista x64
Concerning Microsoft Windows Vista Basic Home edition (OEM 64 bit), the cost varies between 95 and 175 dollars, for Microsoft Windows Vista Professional edition (OEM 64 bit) between 150 and 280 dollars and for Windows XP Professional 64 bit, you will need to spend between 175 and 205 dollars.

But the icing on the cake is that if you already have a Windows Vista license (boxed version), the migration will only cost you 17€! To order your x64 DVD, Microsoft has created a dedicated site here. In the end these process are all quite reasonable.


Quelques sites à fréquenter !
Start64 : www.start64.com
Vistax64 : http://www.vistax64.com
Extended64 : http://extended64.com
PlaneteAMD : www.planetamd64.com
Apple MAC OS X Leopard 64 bits: http://www.apple.com/fr/macosx/technology/64bit.html
Ubuntu64 : http://www.ubuntu.com
OpenSuse64 : http://www.opensuse.org/
Debian64: http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64
Wikipedia64 bit : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit