super newbie 32 vs 64 bit

I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula

Well, the major advantage of 64-bit Vista is really the large memory address space, which can handle up to 128 GBs + of physical RAM. If you are working in scientific and engineering environments with demanding applications that are memory hungy and you process large sums of data for analysis, then 64-bit is right for you.
With Vista though, especially 64-bit, Microsoft aiming to bring the platform mainstream and its feature rich in every way like its 32-bit counterpart, although you still face the issues with hard device drivers needing to be 64-bit native to work. If you plan on migrating to Vista x64, its recommended you do the necessary research to ensure that your existing hardware and applications can work with Windows Vista x64, checking manufacturers website or contact them directly.
In the mean time, you might want to check out the Windows Vista product guide: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ details.aspx?FamilyID=BBC16EBF-4823-4A12-AFE1-5B40B2AD3725&displaylang=en
Also check out my year in review article of Windows XP Professional x64, a lot of the content applies to Windows Vista x64 also http://www.activewin.com/articles/2006/8.shtml
Here is an excellent one to check out, is 64-bit Windows right for me, by Charlie Russel - MVP: http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/8/6/B868C664-13FC-4F91-9651-5B6D4F1A2F60/Is_Windows_XP_Professional_x64_Edition_Right_for_Me.doc -- -- Andre Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
"Paula" wrote in message

I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula

I almost forgot, your processor is not 64-bit, none of the Core Duo's are, the Core Duo 2 line of processors expected to start shipping in August will use the Merom architecture which will add 64-bit instructions. Thats what I am waiting on. :) -- -- Andre Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
"Paula" wrote in message

I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula

Paula,
it depends on you task. If you are just use you PC as notebook, to serf internet and other everyday task like emailing and etc - 32bit version is suitable for you. The problem of 64bit version of Windows is that they are not 100% ready for end-user, because there are a lot of applications/plugings/ActiveX objects that don't work correctly in 64bit enviroment.
If you are not engineering person using PC in your specific task I recomend to use 32bit platform
"Paula" wrote in message

I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula

Excellent reads! Especially the "is 64-bit Windows right for me " Very well explained and easy to understand. Thanks! Paula
"Andre Da Costa [Extended64]" wrote in message

Well, the major advantage of 64-bit Vista is really the large memory address space, which can handle up to 128 GBs + of physical RAM. If you are working in scientific and engineering environments with demanding applications that are memory hungy and you process large sums of data for analysis, then 64-bit is right for you.
With Vista though, especially 64-bit, Microsoft aiming to bring the platform mainstream and its feature rich in every way like its 32-bit counterpart, although you still face the issues with hard device drivers needing to be 64-bit native to work. If you plan on migrating to Vista x64, its recommended you do the necessary research to ensure that your existing hardware and applications can work with Windows Vista x64, checking manufacturers website or contact them directly.
In the mean time, you might want to check out the Windows Vista product guide: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ details.aspx?FamilyID=BBC16EBF-4823-4A12-AFE1-5B40B2AD3725&displaylang=en
Also check out my year in review article of Windows XP Professional x64, a lot of the content applies to Windows Vista x64 also http://www.activewin.com/articles/2006/8.shtml
Here is an excellent one to check out, is 64-bit Windows right for me, by Charlie Russel - MVP: http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/8/6/B868C664-13FC-4F91-9651-5B6D4F1A2F60/Is_Windows_XP_Professional_x64_Edition_Right_for_Me.doc -- -- Andre Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
"Paula" wrote in message I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula

Thanks again and HAPPY WAITING! Paula
"Andre Da Costa [Extended64]" wrote in message

I almost forgot, your processor is not 64-bit, none of the Core Duo's are, the Core Duo 2 line of processors expected to start shipping in August will use the Merom architecture which will add 64-bit instructions. Thats what I am waiting on. :) -- -- Andre Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
"Paula" wrote in message I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula

Yes, I see that now Michael. Thanks for making it easy. Paula
"Michael Nemtsev" wrote in message

Paula,
it depends on you task. If you are just use you PC as notebook, to serf internet and other everyday task like emailing and etc - 32bit version is suitable for you. The problem of 64bit version of Windows is that they are not 100% ready for end-user, because there are a lot of applications/plugings/ActiveX objects that don't work correctly in 64bit enviroment.
If you are not engineering person using PC in your specific task I recomend to use 32bit platform
"Paula" wrote in message I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula

Indeed, yet another fundamentally very informative little thread.
Paula, recently invited by MS to test Vista's 2nd beta, I myself have asked some "silly questions" here too, and have been frankly somewhat surprised, pleasantly but surprised nonetheless, at the help offered by these higher level Windows folks like Andre, etc.
He and those like him are doing good work for those of us who while we ain't exactly experts, are endeavoring to increase our understanding of the inner workings of the systems that run on these boxes we (usually) enjoy using so much, day in and day out, at work and at home.
On Sat, 3 Jun 2006 11:27:37 -0700, "Paula" wrote:

Yes, I see that now Michael. Thanks for making it easy. Paula
"Michael Nemtsev" wrote in message Paula,
it depends on you task. If you are just use you PC as notebook, to serf internet and other everyday task like emailing and etc - 32bit version is suitable for you. The problem of 64bit version of Windows is that they are not 100% ready for end-user, because there are a lot of applications/plugings/ActiveX objects that don't work correctly in 64bit enviroment.
If you are not engineering person using PC in your specific task I recomend to use 32bit platform
"Paula" wrote in message I am a 60 year old lady who just got her first laptop. It's a Dell Latitude 820D running win xp pro T2400 Duo core 1.83 GHz. I was going to wait until Vista came out but I don't know how much longer I have <g> so decided to buy now. My question is what is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Is it one of those questions "If you have to ask..........." How do I find out what I have? When I buy Vista should I get the 32 bit or the 64? Advantages? Disadvantages? Not doable? If I have win xp pro now, what version of vista should I upgrade to? Wanting to learn new things....please pardon if this is a silly question. Thank you, Paula