Asked and answered   

I agree, a lot of you are misinformed, or basing your judgments on personal, limited and subjective experience.

There is nothing wrong with 64bit computing. If it does not work for you then you are likely using hardware or software that does not comply to MS hardware or software programming standards, or you do not know what you are doing. This is not the fault of Microsoft.

My 64 bit setups run perfectly, all hardware has drivers and the vast majority of it is WHQL. There are virtually no applications that fail. Things like Autocad, Photoshop, Maya, AVID, Cubase, korg music synthesizers, FSX, Tablets, programmable keyboards, HDV (HDA is currently broken in 64, but nobody uses it anyway) all work flawlessly as 32bit apps. And, because the underlying architecture is different(server code in x64), it is actually quite a bit faster than win32 as its better optimized (Even In WOW and I have the stats to prove it - we have tested this extensively).

It is nearly flipping perfect.

Why is it so perfect? Because I did some friggin research before buying new hardware, and am experienced enough to know that these things take time to get going for any new OS, be it by MS, Apple, Sun or Linux.

And no credible person in IT would deploy IE7 in the workplace... no credible IT shop runs the latest, they run the most stable. Its called Zero Down Time Tolerance. And no credible IT manager would deploy Vista on a network except as a network connected desktop PC ... its not designed for Enterprise Level Computing, Windows Server and Client are.

Who gives a crap what (influential) people are using at home or as a workplace PC (verses a proper client). A file is a file. As long as the application format is the same, the platform architecture is irrelevant (I have a mix of Unix and Windows of all kinds on the network here and they all run like they were one machine. Via a network, no end user would ever need know what the host platform is running as long as the data is compatible.

64 bit is here to stay and its not just welcome, its necessary. In two years, you will not even be able to run many high end app on Win32 because of the memory addressability limit and the need for enhanced threading.

And in ten years, when we jump to 128bit, we will be having this conversation all over again. Its called evolution. Get with it.

I hear some whining. I hear a lot of griping. But Foxwolfen said it. It is coming. Be on the bleeding edge or the curl. It will be here.

For my clients, I dont recommend bleeding. For me? Cut me. Do I not bleed?

Beside the fact that Vista is experiencing the same "sickness" of Windows Xp when it first came out (not every single driver was available, compatibility issues and so on, so on...), you should explain some of my customers this "statement of yours" (see below...)

"End users don't HAVE a choice in operating systems, or at least not one they are aware of, when they purchase their computers. They basically get whatever the manufacturer loads, and you can't find manufacturers loading their machines with XP. Getting a new machine loaded with LINUX is actually easier than getting a new one loaded with XP."

Ahem, dude, where are you living, the Moon...? There is still plenty of choices for the less than average to the average and high-end user to buy Windows Xp Pro/Media Center-based computers. If you check online, there are plenty of desktop and laptops/notebooks available with Windows Xp, ranging from $400 to over $7,000 (see Dell, Acer, HP/Compaq, Lenovo and so on...)...You might want to stay a bit more up-to-date, "Mr. Support Technician"...

More..."Getting a new machine loaded with LINUX is actually easier than getting a new one loaded with XP."....Ahem, it maybe true that more machines are coming out with Linux...but wait, are we still talking about "average customers"...? Because if we are... uhm, majority of "average customers" can't even deal with the "problems" given by Windows Xp (less than the beginning but still lots) and you want to give them Linux-based machines...(since installation to running to software updates Linux IS NOT a machine for the "average Joe"...

And more..."(but Mac still sucks! LOL!)"...WOW, that's even better...

What's your take in that, Mr Support Technician...? Is that maybe because Macs are the most widely used systems as high-end machines (see video and audio softwares widely used by communications, advertisement companies) ? Or because they are so good that "almost never" crash, programs rarely fail/quit ?

Or you simply don't like Mac because they are not good for chatting or games...?

Macs were NOT made for chatting or games. Macs are NOT average user machines (although few more average Joes are finding them far more appealing than Windows-based machines)...

Let's see...

1) You suggest a machine to your customer based on his/her needs.
2) You have the ability and the knowledge to present your customer with a wide choice (from few hundreds bucks to over $10,000) (again, based on his/her needs)...
3) You ARE informed about the old, not so old and the latest technology so that you are a respectable Tech and/or seller..
4) You have the knowledge to be able to define the differences between different systems and/or different brands and not just say that one "still sucks"...
5) If I were to read/listen to you as a It tech or seller, I would never buy/take any advice from you because you sound the classic "big store chain" seller (and it really doesn't matter for which company or country) who would say anything to sell anything...

Last but not least...finally VISTA !

What's wrong with it...? Nice to see, new Os (not a big deal since we are used to Microsoft line-up of Os's in the past 15 years...Dos, Windows 95/98/Me/2000/2003Xp/Xp Media Center/Vista, wow, does it ever end...?), same initial troubles as Windows Xp (compatibility issues, lack of specific drivers, unexpected behavior and so on...)...

Still, would you recommend Vista to someone who needs a machine to check emails or surf the web...? If you do, either you don't care about the customer or you never seen/used Vista or never really realized how many "customers" still deal with Xp problems today (hardware and software) and it's one of the many reasons why companies like Hp/Compaq, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus and so on still HAVE customer support personnel (yes, I worked for one of these companies) for the average "Joe" and non.

So, while Windows Vista is "cool" (I have Vista Ultimate on my laptop and it's doing pretty good although I have a high-end one), there are still very few programs which runs fine or with very few "flaws" and there are still drivers compatibility issues just like Windows Xp in the beginning....and therefore it's "still" not really something you would suggest the average "customer" to buy (beside the price tag of more than $300 just for Vista and more for Office 2007!!!)

64 bit computing...? Tell me how many programs natively runs in 64 bit then explain your customers why even Macs (which are 64 bit platforms) and Mac OS X (which is a 64 bit OS) still have to provide "Universal" so that majority of today's software can run, NATIVELY as 64 bit applications...

These are some of the reasons why I never buy computers from companies like Futureshop/cdw/compusa (etc, etc, etc) and why I always have customers thanking me for not letting them waste money and time with systems/Os's that are inappropriate for them...

And other reasons where it happens that I NEVER, in my life, had to call Customer Support...

Not everybody can be this lucky but doesn't mean that misleading information should be given as well...Knowledge and balance of opinion should be the main rule but we can all see that it still doesn't happen (and it's 2007, folks) and it may never happen...

Just a few thoughts from an ex customer support agent and a hardware-software technician whose customers appreciate for his honesty and judgement, not for his BS...

And thank God Big companies STILL DID NOT upgraded to Vista..!!!

Sorry, it should have been :

"64 bit computing...? Tell me how many programs natively runs in 64 bit then explain your customers why even Macs (which are 64 bit platforms) and Mac OS X (which is a 64 bit OS) still have to provide "Universal" so that majority of today's 32 Bit software can run, in a 64 bit platforms and OS...since 99% of the biggest companies (see Adobe, Autodesk and so on), still don't have full 64 bit releases of their software...


P.S. Forgot to mention :

5 desktop computers :

2 Windows Xp Media Center, 1 Windows Xp Professional, 1 Ubuntu 6.10, 1 Fedora Core 6.

1 Laptop/Notebook : Windows Vista Ultimate

In the past owned : 1 PowerMac DualCore 2.0GHz Best Graphical Machine I Ever Had...

   You have a flair for the ironic.