Windows Vista and 64-Bit Processors

Nieldo · 19 Jan 2006 at 19:39

atm I have a 64 bit processor but am not running a 64 bit windows. I assume that I am currently not getting better performance out of my processor as my last one was 2.2ghz and so is my current one.

Will indows vista support both 32 and 64 bit?or will they have two different versions of the operating syetm?

NathanE · 19 Jan 2006 at 19:41

They will have a 32 and 64-bit version. It's very likely that Vista will ship on a DVD with both images on.

lordedmond · 19 Jan 2006 at 19:52

i have read that all the vista dvd's will be the same and the product key will unlock the version that you have paid for

hope that makes sence

toy_soldier · 19 Jan 2006 at 22:21

Surely this time round they will make it free to move from 32bit so 64bit?

Although this is microsoft were talking about ^o)

purejamie · 19 Jan 2006 at 22:37

Anyone know how many versions of Vista there is actually going to be? Think Microsoft is about to take software licencing/purchase to a whole new level of complexity....

Nieldo · 19 Jan 2006 at 23:27

So if I install windows vista 64 bit version will I still be able to run all my other programs? Or do I have to wait for the devs of the diferent programs to release 64 bit versions?

Whitewater · 20 Jan 2006 at 00:28

purejamie said:
Anyone know how many versions of Vista there is actually going to be?

There are 7 if I remember correctly, there's a list popping about somewhere.

doodah · 20 Jan 2006 at 00:31

Starter Edition
Home Basic Edition
Home Basic Edition N
Home Premium Edition
Professional Edition
Professional Edition N
Small Business Edition
Enterprise Edition
Ultimate Edition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista

N versions are without WMP.

Nem · 20 Jan 2006 at 00:43

The way I understand the delivery method and installation of Vista is that on the install it will detect the cpu and then install either 64-bit of 32-bit on what hardware it finds. I doubt if there will be a choice any more so if you have 64-bit cpu you will end up with a 64-bit Vista OS installed.

As has also been said tho there will only be 1 DVD of Vista which contains everything. It will depend on the product key you have as to what gets installed so there will not be a Vista Professional and a Vista Home and a Vista Media Centre. It will be more like you will get a basic installation and then it will add in what you pay for. You will also be able to add things after installation meaning if you buy a oem pc with a basic office type installation and then decide you want media centre on it, you can just go to microsoft and pay x amount of pounds for a media centre key. Then enter the new key and it will install that section possibly from a file store already on the hard disc, restart and you'll have media center. etc etc.

Nick

Edit, just seen above post, I did think it was going to be Vista with the home entertainment pack, or Vista with the office productivity pack etc etc rather than clear product names. Oh well.

Goksly · 20 Jan 2006 at 04:08

"a game performance tweaker (code-named WinSAT)" reads as "All other versions will be artifically crippled"

Big Chris · 20 Jan 2006 at 12:18

Any ideas on pricing? I can see most if not all OcUK forum users and other like minded people heading for the Ultimate Edition as and when they upgrade, but I'm thinking it's gonna be a tad pricey?

doodah · 20 Jan 2006 at 12:49

one of the dons i think mentioned a "small prenium" for top end editions, question is how small?

lordedmond · 20 Jan 2006 at 13:01

depends how much money you have

NathanE · 20 Jan 2006 at 13:08

dbappa said:
one of the dons i think mentioned a "small prenium" for top end editions, question is how small?

That was me and I'm not a don

I reckon the regular editions will cost around £60 to £100. The "ultimate" edition will probably clock in at up to £130/140.

You can upgrade your edition seamlessly so if you wanted you could buy a basic Home license then upgrade to Ultimate or whatever later on to get the Media Center features, for example.

Burnsy2023 · 20 Jan 2006 at 16:01

NathanE said:
That was me and I'm not a don

I reckon the regular editions will cost around £60 to £100. The "ultimate" edition will probably clock in at up to £130/140.

You can upgrade your edition seamlessly so if you wanted you could buy a basic Home license then upgrade to Ultimate or whatever later on to get the Media Center features, for example.

I take it we're talking OEM prices here?

Burnsy

stoofa · 20 Jan 2006 at 16:39

The most sensible thing MS are doing with Vista is making the versions that don't require Activation versions that the home user won't want.
So they take the equivalent of the "Corporate Edition" and it will have things missing from it, like full DirectX support, etc.

Corporate suits will be happy as it means games and the like won't run on work machines due to the OS being designed to run as a company tool only.
Any home user who "borrows" the work copy or downloads the only version that doesn't require Activation will find it useless for games etc.

Before anybody chips in - no it won't stop piracy.
However the vast majority of pirate copies of Windows out there are the Corporate Editions.
This system means that the easily to obtain versions that won't require activation are useless to most home users.

NathanE · 20 Jan 2006 at 18:11

burnsy2023 said:
I take it we're talking OEM prices here?

Burnsy

Yes.

Who would waste £10's more just to get a card board box?