Vista 32bit or 64bit?

[jesta]

I just bought a Dell XPS M1530 and it comes preloaded with 32bit Vista Home, the spec of the machine is Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.4ghz) and 4gb ram. I was whether I should be running 64bit Vista instead so it can utilise the 4gb ram. Am I correct in thinking I can still use 32bit drivers for my hardware or do I need to find 64bit drivers?

Thanks.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

You should be using the 64-bit version to make full use of your hardware. You will need 64-bit drivers for everything.

 

[marscay]

yep as above - you might even find the 64bit version a bit faster on lower spec hardware like a laptop.

 

[bledd]

deffo use 64

if you had less than 2gb ram, i'd say upgrade to 4gb and use 64

 

[Defiance_co]

x64 for sure

Drivers, Only worry if you're using quite old peripherals/hardware etc

Ciao

Def

ohh and as bledd says, 4gb makes a good difference in x64

 

[Dark_Angel]

There is no reason to use 32 bit at all with Vista.

It is more stable, is faster and basically well... better.

 

[jesta]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will go with 64bit then.
Does software need to be 64bit or does 64bit Vista support 32bit software(sorry not too clued up on operating systems)?

 

[marc2003]

practically all 32bit software works fine in vista 64 bit. it's just drivers that need to be native 64 bit.