Vista 64

from WinCustomize Forums
Hello

I am buying a new system and have been an avid stardock customer for years (yes a real paying one- not a pirate!)

I'm downgrading (lets hope not) from XP to Vista, and as I am looking at the new quad intels, I'm thinking of going for the 64 bit version of vista.

A quick question though- are the main stardock apps (WB, IP etc) now 64-bit compatible?

Also, since I use WB, can I forgo the silly vista home & ultimate versions and just get the basic one which is a lot cheaper?
4,552 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The 'Features' section shows which programs work in Vista and also which one's support 64-bit.  ODNT Features
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
thank you- that is useful- but will they work in the basic no-knobs version?
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
but will they work in the basic no-knobs version?
End of quote

Absolutely.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I wouldn't recommend Home Basic to anyone. Might as well stick with XP. I have Home Premium on my laptop.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I wouldn't recommend Home Basic to anyone. Might as well stick with XP
End of quote


While Vista Home Basic has a few more features than XP, it is an entry level OS and you would be better served going with Home Premium at a minimum, given it(and Ultimate) has extras such as DVD support and Media Center, etc.

Also, being that you're considering going with a quad core, you're not likely to experience the performance issues some people report with the more powerful/resource intensive features of Premium/Ultimate on lesser powered machines... and with x64 you can fully access 4gb+ of RAM as well, so wouldn't it be a bit of a shame/somewhat a waste installing an entry level OS on more than just adequate hardware?

It's entirely up to you, of course, but my nephew has Home basic on his machine and he says that he feels restricted and wishes now that he had spent the bit extra to have gone with Home Premium at the least... after seeing all the extras I have in Ultimate, I think he sees his copy of Home basic as too much of an anti-climax. :)
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I for one can agree on this topic having tested the lower Vista editions. Business seems to be my favorite with better networking and with the SP1 I can take advantage of the RAM I have been missing.

Skinning aside I just built an XP machine for a friend and got is screamly faster with the right kind of 2gigs of RAM and a great video card than my work 4gig Vista. This rig was for gaming of course but it dose make one wonder.

As far as Stardock skinning processes go we will work on whatever Vista you choose. However these days the software is starting to really define the hardware instead of the other way around.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I run Vista Business on my laptop and Vista Ultimate x64 on my desktop. WindowBlinds, ObjectDock Plus, and Desktop X work well on both systems. RightClick works perfectly on Business, but only works by using a function key on Ultimate x64. I don't really use any of the other programs.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As for, I am running XP32, XP64, Vista32, and Vista64 on the same machine for testing purposes. And without a doubt, Vista64 is the fastest, most robust, and most stable of the bunch on this quad core, 4gb ram, 4 high end monitors system.

In fact the only downside is I can't play games that use punkbuster for anti-cheating online as Evenbalance STILL doesn't support 64 bit, in XP or Vista. :(

I'd ALWAYS recommend a dual boot with at least one flavor of XP though, just in case...