32bit Vs 64bit XP

[enzeo]

trying to decide which operating system to invest on my new Quad core system (Q6600). I do a lot of digital content creation (Maya 8.5, 3D studio MAX, After affect, and Photoshop), and My google search turned up little or no up-to-date data on the issue (most seems to be from the early 2005 beginning of 64bit XP era).
Is there a noticeable increase in productivity when using 64 bit over 32bit OS?
Is there any RECENT testing on those two OS online?

Thanks in advance guys!

[b1lk1]

XP 64 has poor driver support. 64-bit OS's are needed when you want to run 4GB+ of system memory. If anything, Vista 64-bit Premium/Ultimate would be a far better choice than XP.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by enzeo

trying to decide which operating system to invest on my new Quad core system (Q6600). I do a lot of digital content creation (Maya 8.5, 3D studio MAX, After affect, and Photoshop), and My google search turned up little or no up-to-date data on the issue (most seems to be from the early 2005 beginning of 64bit XP era).
Is there a noticeable increase in productivity when using 64 bit over 32bit OS?
Is there any RECENT testing on those two OS online?

Thanks in advance guys!

If you want to run 64bit then go with Vista.

XP 64bit is pretty much EOL and nobody carries it.

[Mars]

Same thoughts as the previous posters, I ran XP 64-bit for a few months, and it was a wreck compared to Vista 64-bit.

Personally I love Vista 64-bit. Been running it since release with no complaints.

[Amon]

I'm going to have to disagree with the above. I've been using XP x64 since its release date and I will admit that it got off to a terribly rough start--it was one incredibly isolated island of an operating system back then. Support has improved significantly between about Fall and Winter 2006 as vendors have, then, begun embracing support for development firms and enterprise servers to whom the OS was geared towards.

Speaking of productivity, I haven't noticed any substantial gains in using pure 64-bit applications; 10% at best if I really had to estimate. 'Does that mean I recommend XP x64?' No, but from my own experiences, I surely don't advise against it either. I found it very useful in taking advantage of very large address ranges: lots of memory.

The only applications that you cannot run are third-party, home-brew apps and 16-bit programs. The WoW64 middleware will handle 32-bit emulation very, very well with a real loss of performance of less than 1 per cent.

I have XP x86 in a dual-boot because it was necessary during the 'dry support' period of yesteryear.

**edit: The Wikipedia entry for XP x64 seems to have a mouthful of unproven bullsh** to say about the OS.

[magictorch]

Im afraid ive never seen any comparisons.

Dual booting sounds like a good option to compare the two and make use of the advantages of one or the other.

Out of interest how do you set up dual booting-please excuse my ignorance-id quite like to try LINUX?