I am building my computer Friday, and because I'm buying the OEM version of vista I have to choose... 32 or 64 bits?
But from what I understood, the 64 bit version is only good to address more than 4 GB of memory (2 GB on app). I am buying 2 GB of memory with the option to upgrade to 4 somewhere down the life expectancy of my new pc. Why would I want to get myself in trouble with 64bits if I will not conceivably use more than 4 GB of memory??
And please don’t say it’s the future, the future is a new pc in 3/4/5 years time. And the argument of helping the industry move to 64 bits... really, be serious, we will move to 64 bits when it is inevitable, 4 years from now the memory requirements will be much greater, and its not by putting 16gb of ram, on my then 4 years old computer, that I am going to avoid having to buy a new one.
(The security factor is the only argument I can think of being valid, but for me it is not enough to offset the hassle).
Prove me wrong, because I am tired of picking my brains in an agonizing choice that's really not worth it.

well if your going OEM the you might as well just get 32 bit as you wont be able to upgrade much anyways. ride it till your system is outdated and then dump it to someone else and rebuild with a 64 bit one.

won't be able to upgrade as much?
I thought you were allowed to upgrade... Hope I'm not wrong

http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070126/tc_zd/199653

http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_myths.mspx

First off you can order the 32 bit oem dvd, then order the 64 bit dvd from microsoft for 7.99 shipping only. Your oem key code will work with the 32 bit and the 64 bit vista. So try both the 32 bit and the 64 bit and see which one you like best.

As for getting the oem version and not being able to update your hardware is completely incorrect. When you replace your hardware you will have to reactivate windows by using the phone activation. This is very simple and takes no time at all.

64-Bit is a tad faster...

~Ibrahim~

Are you sure about this? Is there someone that actually tried this? I have chosen to get the 32 OEM Ultimate, and while I don't see me needing more than 4gb RAM during the lifetime of this PC, I would like to get the most out of my Vista license, so if they allow me to order a 64bit DVD for small change, I probably will. Thing is, I have heard stories on the MS support forums that an OEM key from a 32bit package will NOT work for a 64bit install (as it would defeat the whole purpose of OEM licensing).

I can get 2 OEM's (32+64) for less than the price of 1 retail box, so it may not be that big of a deal, but if I can avoid having to buy a new license when getting more RAM, I will...

Where are you getting this information? Provide a link the Microsoft page where you can order the 64-bit media for 7.99. I don't see one, and I see nothing in the OEM license that leads me to believe they are interchangle.

Hmm. Maybe he's right...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvi [...] fault.mspx

Has anyone tried to order the 64 bit version on an OEM key?

Nevermind... This is just misinformation. I just tried ordering the media using the product key from an OEM 32-bit edition and the order can't be processed. It is rejected with the error: "No Offer Found".

Lies/talking-out-as*... thx.

If you buy Vista Ultimate x86 it comes with the 64-bit DVD in the box.

I dont think the 64 bit support is good enough, judging by XP it might ta a while. Soemhting to keep in mind is that with 4 gb you will see ~3gig because of memory adressing issues.

I say save yourself the hassle and go 32, 2gig should be enough for 2 years or so

The memory issues I read about (with XP) have to do with MS deciding to limit the size of some table in the kernel that would need to be a lot larger to address 4G. So, they require you to put a switch in the boot.ini file to allow up to 3G, and it only works with applications that have a certain capability set to access that memnory.

So, Vista has the same thing? It looks like MS is doing this with the 32bit versions expecting people who use that version to only go with 2G RAM.

The 64bit versions of XP and Vista are meant for real power users that intend to open more than one memory hungry app at a time, like someone who has Photoshop open to work on several large images at a time while editing video in another app. The 64bit version is total overkill for most people, even if they consider themselves to be power users. It won't help with games at all, since game developers will code their game's memory managers to work with the 32bit version. Far Cry is an exception, and maybe they will also release a 64bit version of Flight Sim X along with DX10 support.

I believe VALVe will be going to 64 bit too right?

Yup, Valve has been an early adopter, I think.

~Ibrahim~

Confirmed.