Windows XP Professional 64 Bit

G

Guest

Hello. I am a member of a very large internet VA. Livewire Airlines. A lot of
our pilots are interested in the 64 bit operating system as many have 64bit
processors.

The question is... is there a general Idea of when XP Professional 64 Bit
will be released. and is there any relation to the release of Flight
Simulator 2006. Is FS2006 going to be 64 bit capable as well? This would be
truly incredible news if it was so.

I have many suggestions and recommendations for the development of FS2006.
I would love to be involved in the process. I know the trial has expired
for XP Pro 64 Bit. But it doesn't hurt to ask.

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this question. Thanks in advance for
your replys.
 
J

Jupiter Jones [MVP]

The 64 bit Windows XP just RTM on Wednesday.
There is some trial software available:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/trial/order.aspx
Microsoft has stated it will be available OEM only and not retail.
The preview has ended, but trial versions are only available as of
Wednesday.

I doubt there is any relation to FS2006.
As for specifics of FS2006, you are better off asking in the simulators
newsgroup.

If you are interested in Beta testing FS2006 or anything else:
https://beta.microsoft.com/sign-in/signin.asp?refURL=http://beta.microsoft.com/content/bphome.asp?
 
G

Guest

Thank you for the speedy reply Jupiter. I am currently reseaching a new
computer system. I would like the 64 bit operating system. It will not be a
compaq , IBM or HP. the new system will be built by a large computer
company. Should I wait for a month or just make do with the 32 Bit version.
It seems a shame to buy an OEM 32 bit operating system and have to upgrade
rather that getting the 64 Bit version right from the start.
The reason I am building the system is so I can have the 64 Bit OS.

Recommendations?

Thanks again for your valuable time.
 
M

Mike Brannigan [MSFT]

Test Pilot said:
Thank you for the speedy reply Jupiter. I am currently reseaching a new
computer system. I would like the 64 bit operating system. It will not be
a
compaq , IBM or HP. the new system will be built by a large computer
company. Should I wait for a month or just make do with the 32 Bit
version.
It seems a shame to buy an OEM 32 bit operating system and have to
upgrade
rather that getting the 64 Bit version right from the start.
The reason I am building the system is so I can have the 64 Bit OS.

Recommendations?

OK - but what are your reasons for building a 64-bit system and using a
64-bit OS ?
If you take your initial question about FS, unless the application is
memory bound (in other words needs more then 3GB of process space to run)
then moving to 64-bit will not change anything.
Your 64-bit CPU will run your 32-bit app at an acceptable speed and if the
app can use large memory it will be able to address 4GB. (Last time I
checked FS was nowhere near requiring 4GB of RAM).
Also if you are a games player you need to understand that any 64-bit system
will require specific 64-bit drivers fo the OS, so if you are a gamer with
a high performance graphics card you need to ensure that the hardware
manufacturer has released stable production quality drivers for that card
(in the x64 64-bit version).

So yes buy a 64-bit system (given time that is all you will see anyway) -
but understand why you are doing this, and remember the key thing about
64-bit computing is addressable memory, so unless you are constrained in
this area now and you can build a PC with more then 4GB of memory then you
may not see a significant advantage yet. (Obviously as native 64-bit apps
arrive you will be able to take advantage of these too)
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/evaluation/top5.mspx

--

Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups
 
G

Guest

Thanks Mike

The reason I am asking these questions is that I want to build a syatem that
will be 64 bit capable. I am not an expert on hardware design but it seems
to me that a 64 Bit bus will transfer data at a much higher rate with less
bottlenecks than 32 Bit.

As you know I use Flight simulator 2004, have a P4 2 Ghz 1 MB DDR Kingston
Ram 32Bit system and have quite low frame rates. The processor is pegged at
100% constantly while I am flying. Frame rates can be a big problem with FS9
(2004). That is also why the interest in FS10(2006) being 64 bit. to allow
faster data transfer and thus much better frame rates. If my thinking is
correct.

Also I want to look at the 64 bit system so that if and when other new
versions of software become available and 64 Bit becomes the norm, I will
not have to replace my machine to get the benefit of the OS.

If I cannot buy XP Pro 64 I will most likely save the money and get 32 bit
XP home to cut losses.... and when the 64 Bit becomes available. Toss the
32 bit in the bin and buy the new 64 bit version.

Cheers.
 

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