XP x64

[Notsonoble]

So I was able to legitimately acquire a copy of XP x64 for far less than I could get a copy of any of the x64 Vista's... and since it's time for the bi-decade OS nuclear orbital bombardment. I was thinking I'd try it instead of 32bit XP... Just to actually make use of ram and such... (4G's and 2 512 video cards and lots of hardware that actually needs an address on the mem-table means I'm wasting a lot of power on 32bit)

So has anyone else here used it? I'd go with a 'nix box but there's still a few pieces of software that I really need Windows for, but I'm worried about stuff like GIMP and Inkscape... are the win-binaries stable under x64... should I grab source code and compilers instead (not against this, just no experience with compiling source on Win boxes...)?

[Hoel]

I'm not able to answer anything, but since I'm thinking about getting 64, I'd really like it if you posted any answers you get about GIMP and other relevant software.
Anyone knows how the CC family works in 64?

[jfrazierjr]

So far, on my Vista 64 machine, GIMP has had no problems(cept those caused by user error)

[waldronate]

I have a dual-boot XP32 and XP64 machine but I only use XP64 for testing the occasional 64-bit Wilbur build. It works well for that, though.

[Asharad]

I have vista 64, and haven't had any trouble with 32 apps or games. I can't speak for xp-64 though.

[loongtim]

I'm on Vista 64 with 4GB RAM and run Photoshop, GIMP and a full suite of CC3 products without any problems. Not sure how it would compare to XP64.

[Redrobes]

I run XP x64 and its great. I love it. All the best of XP and 64 bit to boot too. I have 4Gb and a core2 proc. You NEED a 64 bit CPU of course to run it obviously but with it you are then able to run apps written for 64 bit like mine and Joe's.

Edit - Just thought I had better clarify that both myself and Waldronate compile both 64 and 32 bit versions of our apps they are not just 64 bit only. I.e. with a 64 bit OS you can run either but with 32 bit you can still run the 32 bit version of the app but not the 64 bit one. This is true for everybody I have seen that ships a native 64 bit version of the app, they all do the 32 bit equivalent one too.

[Rahva]

When I ran XP x64 I never had any problems with not being able to run things I used to run on 32. I'm pretty sure I had the GIMP installed for a while there before I got CS2 back. I don't even know what Inkscape is, but I'm pretty sure the worst that could happen is it only runs 32 bit instead of 64, which isn't really all that bad.

[Redrobes]

Inkscape is a vector based drawing package and trying to be the GNU equiv of illustrator. I dont think I have ever had an app which was supposed to run but didn't. Only device drivers cause some problems as they must be the right type, normal XP ones wont cut it so old hardware is a problem. Still, all new hardware is done with 64 bit now - Canon, Epson, HP, printers etc all are fully compatible now and the Wacom pen tablets were one of the first people to go 64 bit I remember.

Heres why I like it tho. Load or Save an image which is large and your into memory issues. Any 32 bit app has a maximum of about 4Gb of memory to use and thats it - any more and it goes pop. Here is my app saving a big image and PSP & IrfanView 32 bits apps failing to allocate memory for them. Then windows built in (i.e. 64bit) image and fax viewer and its ok again.

[Talroth]

The only real issue with XP64 (or vista for that matter, but XP64 can be harder) is getting drivers for your hardware. If you go with it, you might need to do a lot of work to get some random gadgets working, or be prepared to update/grade.