CalArti

A while back I talked about my trials and tribulations with a computer crash and getting the new PC up and running. Things are running smoothly now, and I’ve learned a bit about Windows XP x64. Since this operating system is probably most appealing to folks who do heavy duty graphics or video work, it seems appropriate to talk a little about the transition from 32 bit Windows to 64 bit Windows. So here’s a brief summary or my experiences switching over to Windows x64.

The advantages of x64

If you look around on the Microsoft website you can find several advantages to using 64 bit Windows, though they are clear that it's not for everyone. (For the collected works on x64 by Microsoft, take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx From my perspective, two advantages of using 64 bit Windows stand out – additional memory and improved performance from 64 bit applications.

I regards to memory, 32 bit Windows is limited to addressing only 4 gigabytes of memory. 64 bit windows can address tons more – 128 gigabytes. Since heavy duty Photoshop users can easily approach the 4 gig limit, the ability to break this barrier is significant.

The other advantage is that 64 bit code running on a 64 bit processor with a 64 bit operating system is said to be significantly faster than a 32 bit setup. I’ve read about this, but have to say I can’t assess whether or not this is the case. The only 64 bit apps I use are pretty un-demanding, so it’s hard see if there is any performance boost with them.

The disadvantages of x64

In a word – compatibility.

64 bit Windows will run 32 bit applications generally without a problem. The 32 bit code is run in an emulation mode called Windows On Windows or WOW64. My core programs – Photoshop, Thumbs Plus, Bridge, MS Office, etc - run without a hitch on Windows XP x64. They run a lot faster than on my old computer - but I htink the dual core Athlon64 processor has something to do with that...

However, there are still some compatibility issues.

Because 32 bit Windows is running in an emulation mode, 32 bit programs cannot directly access the operating system. This can affect hardware drivers, security software, backup software, and other utilities. In addition, a 64 bit program cannot use a 32 bit plug in or add on.

So with my installation, the lack of 64 bit device drivers left my USB wireless internet device dead, as well as both of my scanners (a flat-bed / film scanner and a dedicated 35mm film scanner.) Thankfully, Epson had 64 bit drivers for the Photo 2200 printer, so it runs without a hitch.

To get wireless network support I had to purchase a new wireless adapter, one that had x64 drivers. And for the scanners I had no choice but to put them onto a second computer, this one running 32 bit windows.

The fact that the scanners won’t run on the x64 machine is really just a technical note for me. I’ve had the scanners on a separate machine for some time, and they will just stay there running on 32 bit Windows XP.

On a positive note, x64 does support the USB drive specification. So my X’s Drive II works and another USB 2.0 external drive both work fine without any additional drivers.

After getting the wireless internet up and running, I restored my data files from my old computer using Norton Ghost 9.0. Fortunately for me, this program installed onto x64 and had no problems restoring data from my backups. However, Ghost 9 is not x64 compatable, and crashes when you try to do a new backup. I wound up buying Acronis True Image Home Edition v 9, which works fine for doing data backups. However, I really should of gotten Acronis v 10, which will actually make disk images under Windows x64. (Update: I bought Acronis V10 and it does seem to make disk images of the x64 partition. Haven't done a system restore yet, but it seems to work fine.)

But at least I was able to get my data restored without a hitch. And during the few days when I was trying to figure out what backup software to buy, I just used Windows Backup to make daily backups.

Now, onto anti-virus software. From what I could tell the major manufacturers of anti-virus software have been slow to release 64 bit versions for home or individual users. As a result, I wound up installing Avast!, which has a native 64 bit mode. Since I’m still running a 32 bit Windows machine (to support the scanners) my old anti-virus software just went to it. So no harm done.

Then there was that little issue about a 64 bit program not being able to use a 32 bit plugin. Windows XP x64 edition ships with Outlook Express, and since that is all I usually use for email I figured it would be fine. But then I discovered that Outlook Express uses the spell checker from either MS Office or MS Works. And since the spell checker is a 32 bit program, 64 bit Outlook Express cannot access it.

As a result, there’s no spell checker available for 64 bit Outlook Express. And, per Microsoft documentation, the 32 bit version of Outlook Express won’t run on x64.

The solution to this problem was to switch over to Thunderbird, the open source mail client from mozilla.org. It actually seems to be a better e-mail client, so I’m glad I made the change.

Finally – I’ve run into a couple of minor problems with utilities that won’t run on x64. For example, Image Recall v 3, a great utility that recovers deleted files from compact flash cards and other media, won’t run on x64 at all. (I wound up installing it on the 32 bit machine.)

Conclusion

At the end of the day, I had to make fairly minor changes to adopt to the 64 bit windows environment. However, I planned all along to continue to have a separate computer dedicated to scanning, so I was able to bypass most of the driver issues by simply using that machine with 32 bit Windows on it. If I was using just one computer, x64 simply would not be an option, since it would not be viable to purchase new scanners that have compatible drivers. I also incurred extra expense buying a new wireless adapter.

On the upside, I learned about some great new software, including Avast! and Thunderbird.

Even with the fairly modest work arounds that I had to employ, I do wind up wondering if the benefits of x64 are worth it. At 3 gigabytes of memory, I am hard pressed to max out Photoshop’s memory allocation (even when processing 16 bit scans of 6x7 cm medium format negatives.)

So far, the only 64 bit software I’ve run into includes Internet Explorer, Avast!, a few FTP clients that I’ve been trying, and other light weight utilities. These are hardly things that require a high power platform.

Perhaps the day will come when one of the applications I use the most comes out in a 64 bit version, or when I finally need and purchase the extra RAM needed to get the benefit of x64’s memory capabilities. In fact – going above 3 gigs just to 4 would be enough to see a benefit.

But until that day comes, x64 is, for me, a pretty fancy 32 bit emulator.