Windows XP Pro X64-- Worthwhile?

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Jonathan Bones said:
Fellow assures me that all hardware has 64bit drivers.
That is an absolute lie, only about half (or less) of current hardware will work with XP 64 to my knowledge. Printers are especially bad, last I checked HP and Epson offered no support and about 8 Lexmark printers would run.
For casual use or use with very specific components xp64 will probably be just fine, but I've had too many people come to me with big hardware incompatibilities to recommend it to you.
 
Re: Re: Windows XP Pro X64-- Worthwhile?

jorsoft03 said:
That is an absolute lie, only about half (or less) of current hardware will work with XP 64 to my knowledge. Printers are especially bad, last I checked HP and Epson offered no support and about 8 Lexmark printers would run.

My apologies for being vague; I meant that he assured me all parts used in the system he's selling me had mature 64-bit drivers. The oldest part in the system is an Audigy 2 ZS.

On the hardware, I trust him. It's the software that concerns me. How does it work, really? I mean, why wouldn't 32-bit antivirus programs function? My assumption is that a program so interwoven with the OS itself would have to be desgined around the OS. But would that ever be the case for a game? Is there any reason to think that I'd have trouble with my library of games dating back to, say, 1998 that I've never had any trouble running under Windows XP Pro?

And what about non-gaming software? Office 2000, for example. I was told that Open Office supports x64. That's great, I've always wanted to try Open Office. But any idea whether Office 2000 would work if I needed it to? What about other common programs? Firefox, Thunderbird, Ewido... and less common freeware utilities. What I want to know is whether a large variety of 32-bit programs won't work for me, even though, as I understand it, they depend in no way on the finer differences between the 32 and 64-bit operating systems. Programs running slower? That's fine. Programs not running at all? That could be a problem.

On the other hand, I don't mind looking for x64 alternatives. I just don't want to have to abandon everything I have and use already. I also fear software being designed for x64 drying up as a result of the Vista market, or something. (Even though Vista will be 64-bit, I wouldn't expect software designed with Vista in mind would work on x64.)

I'm looking forward to using this opportunity to experiment (for the first time) with Linux on my old computer. But I don't want to be in a situation where I'm lost and without software on both my machines, know what I mean?

Printers... a printer I can always hook up to my old system. I don't use a printer regularly. But I wonder, what of my Logitech webcam? Or my Logitech gamepad? USB mice and keyboards? Is this a purely case-by-case thing, or can I assume that the major manufacturers (Logitech, Microsoft) have released compatible drivers for their peripherals?
 
Because XP x64 only supports 64 and 32 bit programs. XP pro supports both 32 and 16 bit programs. Some of todays 32 bit programs have 16 bit installer components.
 
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