Did Microsoft include a 64 bit install disk with your package? I thought
that was only bundled with Ultimate.
I have Vista Home Premium, the upgrade version, with an academic license. I
had to separately order the 64 bit installation disk from MS. (It cost $10,
including shipping.)
I was able to activate the 64 bit installation with the key that came with
the 32 bit disk. A remark by another poster that you'd need a different
license for the 64 bit version appears to be false.
All of my peripherals have full Vista 64 drivers available. I have
occasionally used beta drivers for my nVidia graphics card. I don't
understand driver signing requirements, but they have not been restrictive
for me so far. I haven't tried any hackware yet, like the Slysoft copy
protection defeating stuff.
My main regret is that I didn't spend the extra money for a full
(non-upgrade) version. The XP upgrade installation was nearly as useful as a
full installation disk, but the Vista upgrade is limited. Basically, you are
expected to launch the installation from a running version of Windows. (It's
more complex than that: for example, you can't start the CD from 32 bit XP.)
If you can get 64 bit Vista drivers for all your hardware, and you are
running 4 GB of RAM, the 64 bit version may be worthwhile for you.
Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.