32 or 64 bit OS for laptop?

I'm a bit confused on when Vista is 32 bit and when it is 64 bit. I want to
buy a new laptop computer and am looking at machines with Core2 duo
processors and Vista business edition. However, is this a 32 bit OS? Does
one have to move up to enterprise to get 64 bit? Is it worth it? I am an
underpaid academic on a tight budget but I expect to use my laptop for at
least three years and I use it for lots of fairly high level computing such
as data base work and graphics. . For this reason, I want to get a laptop
that has enough power to keep me going for a while. Any suggestions on the
right OS would be appreciated. (And if anyone wants to recommend a good
laptop, I'd be interested in that as well, though I realize that isn't what
this Discussion Group is for, so that isn't essential to this question.)

pvdg42
Thu Mar 22 08:55:48 CDT 2007


"Robert McN" <RobertMcN@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9F4BADEC-B991-4F9F-9841-95E199EC5F51@microsoft.com...
> I'm a bit confused on when Vista is 32 bit and when it is 64 bit. I want
> to
> buy a new laptop computer and am looking at machines with Core2 duo
> processors and Vista business edition. However, is this a 32 bit OS? Does
> one have to move up to enterprise to get 64 bit? Is it worth it? I am an
> underpaid academic on a tight budget but I expect to use my laptop for at
> least three years and I use it for lots of fairly high level computing
> such
> as data base work and graphics. . For this reason, I want to get a
> laptop
> that has enough power to keep me going for a while. Any suggestions on the
> right OS would be appreciated. (And if anyone wants to recommend a good
> laptop, I'd be interested in that as well, though I realize that isn't
> what
> this Discussion Group is for, so that isn't essential to this question.)

As a fellow underpaid academic, I'll suggest that unless you have, or
anticipate using > 4 gigabytes of memory, or true 64 bit application
software, there is little point in using a 64 bit OS. The laptop you are
looking at very probably comes with the 32 bit version of Vista Business.
The people selling the laptop should be able to tell you which version is
installed. Most current laptops cannot accomodate > 4 gigabytes of memory.
FWIW, all (well, almost all, AFAIK) editions of Vista come in both 32 and 64
bit versions. The one edition I don't know about is the Starter Edition.

IMHO, you won't miss anything by not having the 64 bit version of Vista on
your laptop.

Which laptop? Most of my students seem to have either Dell or Gateway
models, and I don't hear complaints.

multital2
Thu Mar 22 12:03:24 CDT 2007


--
Annie F; Technician, Musician, PI and smart person.


"Robert McN" wrote:

> I'm a bit confused on when Vista is 32 bit and when it is 64 bit. I want to
> buy a new laptop computer and am looking at machines with Core2 duo
> processors and Vista business edition. However, is this a 32 bit OS? Does
> one have to move up to enterprise to get 64 bit? Is it worth it? I am an
> underpaid academic on a tight budget but I expect to use my laptop for at
> least three years and I use it for lots of fairly high level computing such
> as data base work and graphics. . For this reason, I want to get a laptop
> that has enough power to keep me going for a while. Any suggestions on the
> right OS would be appreciated. (And if anyone wants to recommend a good
> laptop, I'd be interested in that as well, though I realize that isn't what
> this Discussion Group is for, so that isn't essential to this question.)

Charlie
Thu Mar 22 12:37:37 CDT 2007

In most cases, your laptop will come with 32-bit Vista. That should be
sufficient for most folks, though your laptop would support either 32-bit or
64-bit. If you have a specific need to run an application that is only
available in 64-bit, then you'd need 64bit Vista. Otherwise, given the
limits on RAM on most laptops, you'll be just fine with the 32-bit one.

"Enterprise" has nothing to do with 32/64 bit. Enterprise is only available
to customers who are on a support plan.

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


"Robert McN" <RobertMcN@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9F4BADEC-B991-4F9F-9841-95E199EC5F51@microsoft.com...
> I'm a bit confused on when Vista is 32 bit and when it is 64 bit. I want
> to
> buy a new laptop computer and am looking at machines with Core2 duo
> processors and Vista business edition. However, is this a 32 bit OS? Does
> one have to move up to enterprise to get 64 bit? Is it worth it? I am an
> underpaid academic on a tight budget but I expect to use my laptop for at
> least three years and I use it for lots of fairly high level computing
> such
> as data base work and graphics. . For this reason, I want to get a
> laptop
> that has enough power to keep me going for a while. Any suggestions on the
> right OS would be appreciated. (And if anyone wants to recommend a good
> laptop, I'd be interested in that as well, though I realize that isn't
> what
> this Discussion Group is for, so that isn't essential to this question.)