Questions regarding XP 64-bit

Cake

Cake

Cake

Associate
Joined
7 Oct 2006
Posts
76
Location
London
Hi,

I've been using Win XP Professional for a long time now, but my License Key has now been used too many times and I can't use it anymore. Before I go on about XP 64-bit, I have one question about XP Pro VLKs: can they be renewed and if so, does it cost and how much? If I call up Microsoft would they tell me to bugger off and buy a new license or would they renew my license at a lesser price than actually buying the OS again?

Now onto XP64:

I've just bought a laptop (hasn't arrived yet), which is going to have Vista Home Premium installed on it, but I'm going to format it for the following reasons:
  • Firstly, I've used Vista on various other people's PCs and I absolutely hate it. I'll spare you all a list of the reasons.
  • Secondly, I'll be using the laptop mainly for development and at work we develop on Win XP Pro machines. I don't want my code to be working on Vista and then suddenly breaking on my work machine.

So, I want to install XP Pro on my laptop. However, I can't decide whether XP64 would be a better choice or not, so here are my questions:
  • Is XP64 as stable as XP Pro?
  • Are there any driver issues with XP64? REMOVED LINK
  • What advantages (other than being able to handle more than 3GB of RAM, which I'll probably never bother putting into a laptop) does XP64 have over XP32? Will it run more efficiently on my Core2Duo than XP32?
  • If I develop on XP64, will my code function in the same manner on XP32 (after recompiling, of course)?

All I can think of for now.

Thanks for your help.
 
When you say you develop on XP Pro machines at work, what application do you develop in, visual studio etc?

You could run Vista 64bit and run XP Pro etc in VMware.
 
Cake said:
  • Is XP64 as stable as XP Pro?
  • Are there any driver issues with XP64? REMOVED LINK
  • What advantages (other than being able to handle more than 3GB of RAM, which I'll probably never bother putting into a laptop) does XP64 have over XP32? Will it run more efficiently on my Core2Duo than XP32?
  • If I develop on XP64, will my code function in the same manner on XP32 (after recompiling, of course)?
Click to expand...
  1. Yes, it's usually considered to be more stable since it uses a newer kernel that's descended from Win Server 2003.
  2. There used to be driver issues but this is largely resolved. I haven't had trouble putting it on machines in a few years. YMMV, of course.
  3. Using a 64-bit OS enables a few more SSE registers along with a few more assorted general purpose registers. It's typically a few percent faster than its 32-bit brethren.
  4. Yes, it all depends on what instructions you pass to your linker and compiler. You can tell it to make a 64-bit binary or a 32-bit binary. Heck, depending on the compiler you're using you can make binaries for completely different architectures.
 
Cake said:
Hi,

I've been using Win XP Professional for a long time now, but my License Key has now been used too many times and I can't use it anymore. Before I go on about XP 64-bit, I have one question about XP Pro VLKs: can they be renewed and if so, does it cost and how much? If I call up Microsoft would they tell me to bugger off and buy a new license or would they renew my license at a lesser price than actually buying the OS again?
Click to expand...

Ok, firstly, why are you using a VLK? Has the licence been provided by your employer? If so, remember that VLA Windows licenses are upgrade only.

If you are correctly licensed and the company VLK doesn't work, the VLA administrator can request a new one for free.

Burnsy
 
burnsy2023 said:
Ok, firstly, why are you using a VLK? Has the licence been provided by your employer? If so, remember that VLA Windows licenses are upgrade only.

If you are correctly licensed and the company VLK doesn't work, the VLA administrator can request a new one for free.

Burnsy
Click to expand...
Sorry, thought I had a VLK, but I don't. My mistake. :)

bledd. said:
shouldn't link to competitor sites..

check the acer site for drivers
Click to expand...
Sorry about that. Thanks for the tip. Will check Acer site.

BillytheImpaler said:
  1. Yes, it's usually considered to be more stable since it uses a newer kernel that's descended from Win Server 2003.
  2. There used to be driver issues but this is largely resolved. I haven't had trouble putting it on machines in a few years. YMMV, of course.
  3. Using a 64-bit OS enables a few more SSE registers along with a few more assorted general purpose registers. It's typically a few percent faster than its 32-bit brethren.
  4. Yes, it all depends on what instructions you pass to your linker and compiler. You can tell it to make a 64-bit binary or a 32-bit binary. Heck, depending on the compiler you're using you can make binaries for completely different architectures.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Very helpful. :)

Combat squirrel said:
also look at linux as its free
Click to expand...
Goes without saying that I'll be dual booting. ;)
Not decided which particular flavour yet. Probably Gentoo and after some playing around in VMWare I may install FreeBSD/OpenBSD, although disk space is an issue on laptops. Great thing about free OSes is I don't need to ask for advice. I can just try them myself and if I don't like them, they're gone. :P

Slinwagh said:
When you say you develop on XP Pro machines at work, what application do you develop in, visual studio etc?

You could run Vista 64bit and run XP Pro etc in VMware.
Click to expand...
Yes, Visual Studio.
 
you should be able to use your current xp..

if it's NOT an oem copy, then you can just call ms and tell them you're putting your retail xp on another pc (and removing it from the other one)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom