64-bit dual core: vista business x64 or XP Pro x64? Jon <jlatenight[ at ]gmail.com> 5/29/2007 2:39:49 PM Hi! I'm having a hard time understanding the different capabilities of the various Windows versions for 64-bit support. I have a license for both XP Pro x64 and Vista business x64. Which utilizes a dual- core x64 processor better? Do applications have to be specifically written to utilize a dual-core x64-bit OS in both XP and Vista? I'm thinking Vista is better at uilizing my CPU's full capabilities despite whether the app is written for x32 or x64, am I right? Like, maybe Vista has drivers that spread the processing across both cores, and XP doesn't? I have a lot of money invested in the top of the line (today) and I just want to be able to use it to its full potential. Thoughts? Thanks all! -Jon

Re: 64-bit dual core: vista business x64 or XP Pro x64? "Charlie Russel - MVP" <charlie[ at ]mvKILLALLSPAMMERSps.org> 5/29/2007 6:53:21 PM Both operating systems can use all the capabilities of your dual core processor. The driver situation is a bit iffy still for all 64-bit OSs, but do your homework and you should be OK. The choice between Vista and XP is, frankly, a choice between where you want to be right now. Vista is new. Vista is pretty. And Vista has some very important security improvements. But XP is a known quantity and the transition to Vista is not without some learning curve pain. It took me a while, but I'm now more comfortable with Vista than with XP. OTOH, we have employees who wanted to move, had the hardware to support Vista, but ended up having a very hard transition. Others had no major pain. Applications must be written to take full advantage of a 64-bit OS. But if they are, they should work equally well in either. For an overview of the decision factors between 32-bit and 64-bit, try this whitepaper: http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/8/6/B868C664-13FC-4F91-9651-5B6D4F1A2F60/Is_Windows_XP_Professional_x64_Edition_Right_for_Me.doc It's about XP x64, but is pretty much applicable to Vista 64bit as well. -- Charlie. http://msmvps.com/xperts64 http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel "Jon" <jlatenight[ at ]gmail.com> wrote in message news:1180449589.637254.298650[ at ]g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com... [Quoted Text] > Hi! I'm having a hard time understanding the different capabilities > of the various Windows versions for 64-bit support. I have a license > for both XP Pro x64 and Vista business x64. Which utilizes a dual- > core x64 processor better? Do applications have to be specifically > written to utilize a dual-core x64-bit OS in both XP and Vista? I'm > thinking Vista is better at uilizing my CPU's full capabilities > despite whether the app is written for x32 or x64, am I right? Like, > maybe Vista has drivers that spread the processing across both cores, > and XP doesn't? I have a lot of money invested in the top of the line > (today) and I just want to be able to use it to its full potential. > Thoughts? Thanks all! > -Jon >