64 vs. 32 Your thoughts are demanded.

[Barney Fife]

Hey Guys.

This is for all of you migrates (Senior Quebec Gooses): I'm thinking of migrating to 64 from 32. This concerns all 64bit OS (XP and Vista).
Since I'm not sure which one to choose yet, I'm just going to throw the questions up in the air and let you sort them out.
Since the cheapest lesson is learning from other's mistake; what I like to know is:
What 32bit apps launched and didn't launch in 64bit environment; specially games?
Lemme specify that: What games completely and absolutely refused to even launch in XP and Vista 64bit OS?
Which games hesitated first but after couple of tricks or a patch agreed to launch?
which Games were sacrificed for the change?

Please don't be shy, I like to see your complete and unbarred experience (Or misery) as to what happen and how you did get around it, or whether you did some compromise; and you threw away your lovely game/s.
What worked and what didn't?
I know both version of Vista 32 and 64 still have attitudes toward 32 apps; tell us both (XP and Vista 64).

A complete list of games (Only Games please) is appreciated.
Add a brief note (Whether game finally worked or sacrificed) to the end of it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MRG]

Thats one doozy of a question there my friend. One that would take a long time to fully & completely answer.

From my own experiences:

Obviously WinVista is still buggy, both the 32 & 64 bit versions & so it's just a matter of time until the bugs are ironed out. Of this I have no doubt. However, the clients that I have installed WinVista on their computers for, have had MUCH better overall performance with the 32-bit version of the new OS. From the Home Basic version on up to the Ultimate Edition, over those that I have installed the 64-bit version of Vista on their computers, namely " Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit" have had a HUGE amount of problems. Crashes, lack of driver support, features such as the now famous inability to "Right click" in Vista Ultimate 64-bit.

My brother-in-law works for a local PC Club & I have heard alot of horror stories from him about Vista's 64-bit version of it's new OS. You have to keep in mind that it's hard to get a fully accurate listing of games & programs that fully work under WinVista. Only because the OS is so new. Wait a few months and alot of the above bugs will be fixed in patches & updates.

My brother-in-law also until a short time ago used WinXP Pro 64-bit version on his own computer and I lost track of the times a game we got would not work on his PC because of compatibility issues. I was finally able to get him to convert back.

So in my own opinion, I would advise you to hold off on getting Vista, at least for the next 3 to 6 months, if not longer. Just until Vista has a chance to mature.

As for games & programs not working, I have had clients tell me the below list did not work on their systems that had Vista installed. I'm not fully sure if the below games and programs only didn't work for them or if it's the same for everyone. Since alot of people here have Vista, i'm sure you'll be getting a long list here shortly.

Company Of Heroes
AOE3
FEAR
FarCry
HL2
BF2
BF:V
BF:2142
GR:AW

Nero
Quick Books
MS Office 2003+
Pinnacle USB Movie Box
Pinnacle Studio
Pinnacle Dazzle 90

Microsofts Official Cpmpatability Listing
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933305

 

[VirusType2]

mostly on-topic:

the Vista that comes pre-installed on PC's IS OEM, but if you buy the Vista Software seperately, then you get both 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.

So can both be installed? Is there a boot option? Or do you need 2 drives, or what? This is what I was planning on doing, but don't really know what how to impliment it, and if there are any drawbacks or side-effects (besides hard drive wastage).

 

[Barney Fife]

Well said MRG. I guess that's why I heard lots of people simply rolled back to XP.
Those games you have mention won't work in even Vista 32bit?

Thanks.