Vista 64 bit

[TS Mathews]

Over time, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the notices about 64 bit Vista
as I was using 32 bit. I've just ordered a new system and suddenly it hit
me that it's got the 64 bit version installed. I've just checked the last
few days of posts here and haven't seen anything terribly worrisome but I
would like a tutorial if possible. I'm assuming my Office 2007 won't be
affected but, not seeing a specific newsgroup for the 64 bit version, I'm
wondering about other programs or is it as simple as when I start installing
things, I'll get a prompt if there's some sort of problem?

 

[DaveD]

Vista 64 is backwards compatible with 32 bit programs.
It won't run 16 bit however (XP could).
It also requires 64 bit drivers and some vendors have been lax in providing
them. That's probably been the biggest problem for most people, and as time
goes on it's diminishing.

 

[Chad Harris]

Hi TS--

Just to add to what Dave said very well, at this time you shouldn't have
much of a problem. While some drivers lave lagged, almost all 32 bit
programs work fine with 64 bit Vista, and you won't need a tutorial because
you're not going to be challenged by anything else in using 64 bit OS's that
I can think of.

CH

 

[Mike]

Adobe Flash Player isn't compatible with Vista64. A lot of web pages use
Flash Player. This is the most annoying for me. Otherwise most everything
works and appears to run much faster.

 

[Ian D]

Adobe Flash Player isn't compatible with Vista64. A lot of web pages use
Flash Player. This is the most annoying for me. Otherwise most
everything works and appears to run much faster.

Vista 64 contains both 32 and 64 bit versions of Explorer. The
32 bit version is the default. There's now a 64 bit version of Java,
but none for Flash, yet.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, TS.

As Mike said, it's true that Adobe is very late in making their Flash Player
work in a 64-bit browser. However, Vista x64 automatically includes TWO
versions of IE7. The 64-bit version is in Program Files. The 32-bit
version is in C:\Program Files (x86) and is the browser version that runs by
default. To run the 64-bit version, you must specify C:\Program
Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe; you can create a shortcut or pin this
to your Start menu for convenience. You can run both versions (32-bit and
64-bit) side by side at the same time.

The Program Files (x86) folder is found only in 64-bit versions of Windows,
including Vista x64; it first appeared in Windows XP 64-bit Edition about 5
years ago. All 32-bit applications are installed here; 64-bit apps are
installed in the folder without the (x86) designation, which refers to the
x86 family of Intel 32-bit processors (8086, 80386, etc.).

See Adobe's TechNote here:
Flash Player support on 64-bit operating systems
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=6b3af6c9&sliceId=1

Adobe says there, "To use Flash Player to view Flash content on a 64-bit
operating system, you must run a 32-bit browser."

Yes, Flash Player does work well in Vista Ultimate x64 (and in Win7 Ultimate
x64 beta build 7000) in the 32-bit version of IE7 - and IE8. And Office
2007 runs fine in WinXP x64, Vista x64 and Win7 x64. A couple of years ago,
64-bit Windows users had a lot of problems, but today those have almost all
disappeared. Hardware and software makers have finally realized that the
future is all 64-bit. While it is not hard to find 64-bit hardware with
32-bit Vista installed, it is not so easy to find a new computer with a
32-bit CPU these days.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 7000

 

[TS Mathews]

Mucho thanks to all of your for your thoughts and comments on Vista 64 bit.
I really appreciate the help and tips.

Tim