Any problems running 64-bit Vista?

I know running a 64-bit Vista on Inspiron laptops usually poses no problems, but with the newer (?) hardware components in Studio I'm wondering if anyone has tried to install the 64-bit Vista on it?

I e-mailed Dell yesterday and asked them to ship the 64-bit DVD (ref: policy document ID 158098 covered at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264607 . I have yet to recieve an answer though.

It's seems odd that Dell are selling laptops with 4Gb RAM without informing customers that 32-bit Vista will not fully utilize it all.

 

Because a majority of the people who buy from Dell have no idea about the relationship between ram and 32/64 bit Vista. They see higher numbers, they will shell out more. Dell doesn't mind profiting from this.

 

That was pretty harsh. At this time I wouldn't bother with 64-bit, even though vista is a hog. Reason being that most laptops still use only 2 DIMM slots, so upgrading past 4gb doesn't seem to be possible at the moment.

That, and 64-bit Vista carries over a lot of the issues that XP 64 did. No drivers, not a whole lot of software available yet to take advantage of the best parts of 64-bit. It does work however.

If you wanted a 64 bit OS, I would try Linux. It has issues also, but there is quite a lot of support / programs for 64 bit Ubuntu.

 

My main motivation for installing a 64-bit Vista:
-use all 4Gb of RAM rather than just 3.25 (?) Gb
-slightly higher (some say 10%) performance in certain circumstances

However, as I'm working with webdesign and are using a large variety of software and codecs I don't think the time is right for a 64-bit transition just yet.

However, I will chase Dell to try and obtain the 64-bit DVD in case I decide to "upgrade" in a couple of years. So far they are being a bit difficult about it, but I'll wait until I get the system and keep pestering them

 

I'm running Vista x64, and it runs flawlessly.. and if you check the drivers on the driver cd, you will find that most are vista x64 compatible, windows update will cover the ones that aren't..

 

Yes, I did research the drivers for misc Dell components and most of them had 64-bit versions as far as I could see, either from Dell or from the manufacturer.

But what about applications? I know that 64-bit Vista has a 32-bit emulator that will let most applications run without problems, but still there are said to be some 32-bit apps (especially codecs) that will not run in 64-bit Vista no matter what. Does anyone have any experience with "mainstream" software, or is it all running just dandy (with a little bit of tweaking)?

I know that there are compatibility lists out there to reference software, but I'd like to get a general hands-on idea on whether users running Vista 64-bit are experiencing any general problems or if it's mostly puffy clouds and angel choirs all the way.

Thanks TRIaXOR for letting me know about your system working flawlessly. I'm giving another point in 64-bits favor.

 

I asked such question to Dell rep and he said Vista Home Premium comes only in 32bit version. Why to offer 4GB RAM laptop with no 64bit Vista is beyond my understanding. I think only HP sends 64bit Vista if you order laptop with 4GB RAM.