64 bit Vista.

Hey, quick question.

It seems like the biggest issues with 64 bit Vista is compatibility issues. I was wondering if anyone has run Matlab 2007, Matlab 7, or Maple 11 in 64 bit Vista (all student versions).

Also, are there issues with games?

I am asking because I am looking for a new notebook, and am thinking about installing 64 bit Vista as it will be better for analysis purposes. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Only issue I'm aware of with games is the ones that still use 16-bit code (typically the installers). Of course, those are getting pretty rare these days, but there are a couple. For some reason, no one bothered updating the installers to run 32-bit when everything else did.
Other than that, you should have no problems.

The problems are basically with drivers only. All normal software can be run just fine. It's only code that runs in privileged mode (drivers, antivirus, firewalls) that requires special support for 64-bit.

 

Im using matlab 2007 everyday and works perfect, its even faster in 64bits than 32bits !!! .. have not tested maple, but should work..
Im running games also in vista 64bits and have no problem...
vista 64bits dont have so many comp.issues as long as you running programs/games that are not too old.. like 2 years... even older could run, never tried, but i bet it will work, most of them...
anyway go with x64... good luck

 

I just now finished installing Matlab R2007a. Haven't run into any problems so far. It even installed in the Program Files folder instead of "Program Files (x86)".

For other programs, check with their websites to see Vista info.

 

Dunno about games. I am running Matlab 2007a in Vista 64 bit, and it screams. This is because I got Vista 64 bit so I can use all 4GB Ram on the machine. And it does. And for Matlab it's blazing fast. Note that to use multiple cores you have to enable that in the Matlab preferences; which I have done, and it is a good thing.

Dunno about Maple but I expect it should be OK, maybe you have to run it as a 32 bit compatibilty. I haven't used Maple since Maple V.

You may read that you don't get 4GB RAM with Vista 64. I am "getting" it all, (although the display adapter uses some). For example:

 

Yeah the dumb thing about Matlab is that they make the application some sort of script so you can't pin it to the Start Menu. But that was an issue in 32 bit, in XP, etc. Other than that, 64 bit Matlab is dealing with Vista 64.

 

Thanks everyone. This helps a lot. I think I will give it a try. Anything I install will be newer so as long as I get the drivers I need sounds like it will be good to go.

I figure Matlab should run significantly faster, especially if I am running with 4GB of RAM.

Oh, and zenpharaohs, thanks for the multiple core tip as well, I didn't know you could do that. I just changed it as I am coding some Matlab right now!