64-bit Vista is the way to go

MEMORY MAKERS are banking on the 64-bit version of Vista becoming the next big operating system.

Initially, people are going to move to 32-bit Vista, but for any gamer or someone that wants to use more than 2GB of memory, 32 bits won't do any good.

So the memory industry will move from 2x1GB kits to 2x2GB kits and hope that Vista 64 bit takes off. But it won't be easy, as vendors are still struggling to have the 32 drivers ready and the target is January the 30th.

After that, the focus will go strongly on 64 bit. We tried the RC2 Vista 64 bit and learned that you can install everything, including Raid and Sound Blaster X-Fi but, despite 64 graphic drivers from Nvidia and ATI, many games wont even install or run on Vista 64 bit. The industry expects that the big move will take place after Q2 2007, so when Vista starts standing on its feet.

If you use the machine for Photoshop, rendering, video editing or anything else other than gaming only, Vista 64 bit is the way to go. We don't think you can change your mind and activate 64 bit Vista if you purchased 32 bit which sucks big time, but that is what the big Vole decided.

64 bit means more addressing space and only the sky will be the limit. Even desktops will end up with 8GB memory and that is a lot. µ