Windows 64-bit is awful.

Actually, we've seen one other report of major freeze issues with the beta
of ZoneAlarm. I would suggest you dump it for the moment. Especially since I
really don't think it offers much that I value beyond what the (excellent)
built in Windows Firewall offers.

 

Thank you for your response.

I will include my reply to logitech. Affter their camera failed to run in 64
bit I tried to motivate them with some yelling and despite many gamers posts,
they basically said who cares?

As another person here who broke into computers as the gray and blackradio
shack boxes were hitting the market, there is one knawing question. How hard
can it be to reboot a new window in another bit operating system?? How many
chances does microsoft need? When it went from 8 bit to 16 bit, the dos
window could have really worked on the old DOS programs. When we went to 32
bit the exact same thing. Now we are at 64 bits and no one has figured out
how to allocate separate memory for an 8 bit/16/32/64 bit application, using
only the system that is optinmal? Does it take 64 bits to play solitaire?



Hi,

Thanks, for your response. It turns out I was quite
naive to believe Microsoft's list of benefits.

Particularly number 6 concerning WOW and 32 bit
applications.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/facts/top10.mspx


6 Greater flexibility
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition gives you a robust
platform for the integration of 64-bit and 32-bit
applications using the Windows on Windows 64 (WOW64)
x86 emulation layer. You can move to 64-bit computing
while still maintaining your existing investment in
32-bit software and Windows expertise.


It turns out I can manage with a 32 bit partition and
a 64 bit one although they do hurt each other, since I
reinstalled some 32 bit things that 64 bit tried to
erase. The machine I bought specifically to run 1 data
processing program can live without the camera in 64
bit for now.

Yours was just the 1st company I discovered that was
ignoring XP pro 64 bit.

 

Unfortunately, once the system builder handles the drivers for the original
machine, the average user is going to want additional hardware and software
which unless the system builder warned them adequately about doing the
footwork (which you can't do for most software anyway) will result in
frustration for the average user. This is why most system builders don't
offer the OS except to specialised users, as a general rule.

 

Yes. And I might add that, as the author, I was strongly encouraged by
Microsoft to be as accurate and frank as I could be.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/xperts64

 

I don't want to insult you or any other end user, but if you would kindly
read the whitepaper that is right there on the 64bit XP home page:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl..._XP_Professional_x64_Edition_Right_for_Me.doc I
think you'll find that MS is pretty clear about problems and limitations at
this point.

 

I will include my reply to logitech. Affter their camera failed to run in

This is the fundamental bootstrap problem with moving from 32-bit to 64-bit.
Until there are a lot of users using x64, hardware providers don't care to
put the effort into making 64-bit drivers available for their products. Yet
until there are plenty of drivers, many users will be frustrated into
sticking with x86 editions due to a lack of 64-bit drivers.

Hopefully the push for x64 drivers as part of the Windows Vista launch
(which will widely deploy 64- and 32-bit versions of the OS) will shake the
3rd party hardware providers out of their complaisance. In the meantime,
make it clear to a manufacturer that you *want* 64-bit support. If they
respond with "who cares" say "I do!".

--
Chuck Walbourn
SDE, Game Technology Group


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

 

This is like linux (ouch, sorry ) drivers, yo have to ask for x64
before buy.


--
Visita mi blog: http://rfog.blogsome.com
Libros, ciencia ficción y programación
========================================
Prefiero crecer, a sentar cabeza.
-- Joan Manuel Serrat. (1943) Cantautor catalán. (Mi primo el Nano).

 

I gave up on zone alarm and its virus checker and went with Avast's free 64
bit virus software and the windows firewall.

The task manager comes up at least and it hasn't frozen yet. Filling in any
web form bombed it with ZA loaded.

Maybe this will be a stable configuration but I would still say that no
matter what the application or state of development, an OS should be able to
kill any frozen program without removing electricity.

 

BTW Creative has webcams with 64-bit drivers.

 

I've been defending x64 on various threads in this ng. But let's be honest:
Charlie's white paper was just released a couple of weeks ago. I remember
when he told us about it. The link to his paper that's there now might not
have been there whenever the poster was on the site looking for info about
x64.
If we're gonna fight, let's try to fight fairly and honestly.

 

Do you buy a car without doing any research?

Do you buy a house without doing any research?

Do you buy a HDTV without doing any research?

Do you invest in stocks & bonds without doing any research?

Then why would you buy a computer or software without doing any research?

 

Well, if we're being fair, before the WP there were columns, blog posts, and
even LiveMeeting Webcasts that said many of the same things. Though not as
clearly, perhaps. I've been pretty clear since the very beginning that it
isn't for everyone.

 

In the first months of this site, anyone who made any comment suggesting
that it wasn't for everyone got shouted down and slammed. Lots of early
enthusiasts refused to admit that there was any torture that should not be
endured to use x64.

 

Wow! Not my experience at all. I recently bought a new Gateway AMD Athlon
64 dual core 4200+ based sytem and installed an OEM version of x64 having it
dual-boot with Media Center Edition. x64 is awesome! I can't believe the
speed difference. Remember, same machine but both 32 and 64 bit versions of
Windows on it.

As for drivers the only one I had trouble finding was for my D-linik
wireless NIC, but after 10 minutes of research on Drivers.com I had one and
it works great! As for anti-virus software, PlanetAMD reccomended Avast. I
downloaded and installed it and it works flawlessly - for free!

I'm not a gamer so I don't know how well it would work with all the games or
the hardware required to play them. The only game I have on my system is
Flight Sim 2004 with a Cyborg Graphite stick and they both work great! Other
than that all of my 32 bit apps work just as well as they do with 32 bit
Windows. I've never been a Internet Exploder fan, so I downloaded Firefox
Dear Park Alpha 64 and it works seemlessly as well. I can honestly say that
I've yet to run into any kind of problem running apps or using hardware. I
even found a 64 bit driver for my laser printer from the mfg's. website, and
it works great, even through my home network.

My only complaint comes when I downloaded the beta for Office 2007. It
installed and works fine, with the exception of Outlook 2007. My, but it is
slow. That, and it keeps asking me to download this search add-on, but it
tells me that the add-on wont work with x64. The part that really stinks is
that it overwrote my Outlook 2003. It left the rest of Office 2003, but
wiped out Outlook. That figures, the one part of 2003 I would like to still
have. I'll save my comments for the new Office user interface for a later
time.

I'm sorry you're having such a terrible experience with x64. I've been
using it for a month now and plan to keep on using it. I only boot to Media
Center on rare occassions now; it seems really slow in comparison.

 

Not by me, John, and I was here from the opening day. And I did a web cast
on that opening day as well. I've said all along who the target market is,
and that there are specific driver requirements. What is different now is
that at the time of release, I think a lot of us hoped that the IHVs and
ISVs would be more responsive on the driver question. I certainly did, and I
was wrong. But at no time did I think or say that x64 Edition was for
everyone.

 

Sorry if you felt I was implicating you or Andre and 1 or 2 others in the
'lots' category. You folks have been nothing but helpful since before this
site, on the beta site. Many of the 'if you can't make it work for you, you
are a loser' group have left or mellowed. Most are willing to help those
with problems or suggest alternatives. As it is not a replacement for x86
for most, that is why many if not most still dual boot or use a virtual
machine. During the year, I have replaced most of my hardware that wasn't
supported (or going to be) found acceptable substitutes for software that
won't work properly, if at all. I still miss certain functions I had loved,
but am learning to live without them. Except for running Ghost and filing
documents I make in x64, I am 99% using x64. Hopefully with Vista, I can
find programs that perform the functions I now live without, and I am hoping
that my new hardware will have Vista drivers. Don't want that expense
again.
Incidentally, from another post, I am seriously considering a change from
ASUS if I go for an AM2 board. Too many changes of the chipset fan (wish
they had the heatsink Premium model then) BIOS updates were ridiculously
slow, added to poor responses from tech support.

 

For the functionality of Ghost, see Acronis TrueImage. The latest version is
fully x64 capable.

 

Thanks. It's on my list, but since I have to go to x86 about once a week to
file, backup and reload my wifes mp3 player (my new one works on x64), it
hasn't made it to the top yet. May just wait until Vista and make sure
everything will work there. Incidentally, does Acronis work with the Vista
64? If it does, maybe I will move it up the list.

 

I'm pretty sure TrueImage does. There are currently some issues with Disk
Doctor but I expect to see them fixed shortly.

 

Thanks