Xazy

I am finally get a new computer, with windows Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit. Which made me realize I can use some recommendations of some software that is 64 bit. I am not looking for any type of software program at all, just anything that you find fun / interesting / useful etc... Thanks.

Daemon1313

As a home user you won't see any benefit with 64-bit applications unless they use an obscene amount of RAM (3+ GB). The main examples being image and video editing software.

I am not aware of any 64-bit only applications on the market that are anything interesting. 64-bit home computing has not been adopted very heavily. There just isn't much need for it outside of the OS in the home market.

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spindles

I have a few, but they are mostly work focussed for me. I run 64 bit java/tomcat/sql server . Just about everything else on my 64 bit machine are 32 bit apps.

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Shadowex3

As a home user you could very well see a significant improvement in speed with 64bit applications, and likely won't notice any drawbacks from using win7 x64.

That 64bit is only useful in obscure situations and only for programs which use obscene amounts of ram is nothing more than a myth. Any program natively 64bit will likely work better, and there are more of those every day, and anything that isnt will simply run as a 32bit program. I've been using win7 x64 for a while now as a gamer and except for some things working better and faster I haven't noticed a single (negative) difference from being on 32bit.

As far as not having any native 64bit applications... I think almost all my drivers and most of my applications came in x64.

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Xazy

which apps do you use that are x64?

telekinetic

I used Solid Works 64 bit edition at my old job because it was the only way to get it to recognize all 32 gigs of RAM, which is needed for large complicated assemblies that I was too lazy to make lightweight versions of. I was also running dual 1-gig video cards, a RAID 0, and had a 1.5kw power supply...*sniff* I miss that $12000 computer.

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Shadowex3

So far the only things other than my games that are still 32bit are pidgin, winamp, and firefox. Everything else I've installed has had a 64bit version.

64bit and x64 - 64bit Software

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flat5

Besides games, what 64bit apps have you installed?

Shadowex3

???

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Cynthetiq

what is EVERYTHING else we want names!!!! specifics...

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Xazy

And still no names

Shadowex3

Go read my post, it answers your question. It is absurd on its face to demand I list for you every bloody program on my hard drive and whether it's x64 or not after I've told you what is and isn't following a simple general rule AND linked you to a good source of x64 variants.

So, once again, the only things other than my games which are NOT 64bit are pidgin, winamp, and firefox. Everything else I've installed so far has had an x64 variant.

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Cynthetiq

really? I guess when someone asks what books I've read, I can just link Amazon.com because you know all the books I've read are listed there and I don't need to list them all, you should just be psychic to figure out what I've read.

We're asking because we'd like RECOMMENDATIONS, specific ones, not "just use a variant."

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Shadowex3

No, what you're doing is like asking someone what books they've read over some absurdly large period of time and then when they say "I've read everything at X library in Y through Z sections except for A B and C series" you then demand they list every individual book and get angry and demand recommendations without even giving them a genre or any sort of help narrowing it down.

I linked you to a website that I myself use that lists the 64bit versions of a lot of programs based on what kind of program they are and keeps up-to-date news about them and their releases. You're not going to go download random programs and then stare at them while they sit there being 64 bit on your desktop, if you want a 64bit program either go to the website I gave you and look it up, google for it, or give ME specifics and if I think you're done being unreasonable I might help you find a 64bit program that does what you want.

But getting pissy and shouting "I need recommendations for 64bit programs!" is like walking into a massive all-brands GM dealership and shouting "I need TRUCK!" and getting angry when they don't magically find out exactly what car you want.

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Cynthetiq

that's awesome. All this time and you still won't make any specific recommendations of something that is just noteworthy or better than any other contemporary 32bit app.

I guess I'm done with this thread or at least your contributions here.

thanks for the lack of assistance especially when asked. instead of just answering with some examples, you decide to rant about something totally else.

go you!

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Shadowex3

Congratulations, you've managed to not only demand impossible generalities but also to tantrum when I don't magically discern the perfect program for you and then act smug about it. I'm not a coder, I don't know what qualifies as a noteworthy app, and I'm not sitting here with a stopwatch benchmarking exactly how much fasterpaint.net and winrar are converting and compressing screenshots faster than it did on xp32.

I know most of the x64 variants of working programs I use are faster, by a reasonable amount, but any estimate I give you will end in "ish seconds". I haven't done anything particularly enormous yet to see how much faster minutes-long tasks are, but going based on the overall scale I'd say they're benefitting even more than already fast processes. All I can give you are the things I use on a regular basis like the above and media player classic handling big chunky vids more responsively, what use is that to you? How am I supposed to help you if I don't know WHAT you want to know? "Everything" isn't a reasonable answer in this case.

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Xazy

Wow, all I was asking for a few names of software that someone has used that comes in 64 bit (that you are still using). I got a link and said here is a site. Then replied basically saying hey can you just name a few recommendations, I can find what is out there but what are you using ( "You" because you replied here already Shadowex3, and "you" as well implying the entire community). And somehow that is equated to demanding impossible generalities.

No where was mentioned the best 64 bit app as far as benchmarks processing time etc...

Shadowex3

Recommendations for WHAT Xazy, at least give me a genre of program or something. Do you want a media player? Codec packs? Compression? A/V software? Browsers? Shell extensions and replacements?

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AxelF

Not in any way does 64bit in itself add performance over 32bit. Only if your memory requirements go beyond the limit (3-4GB) of a 32bit system you MAY notice less lagging when the OS no longer swaps memory to and from disk. The ONLY difference between running an application in 32 or 64 bit mode is in how much memory it will be able to address, and that in itself means nothing to performance. Very very few applications needs that much anyway, though your 64bit OS may benefit, especially if you bog it up with a lot of simultaneously processing applications like developers do. Some other stuff like data encryption, processing large media files (editing HD-videos or raw photos) or running the latest games that use very large textures may see some improvements. But here we talk about either very heavy loads or no gain.

But to say that "Any program natively 64bit will likely work better" or "...most of the x64 variants of working programs I use are faster" is simply not true. End users often think so because they get a brand new 64bit system that is faster for so many other reasons, like new hardware or a fresh OS install. It may also be so in a few cases that a certain software is re-written for the 64 bit version but not yet for the 32 bit version and therefore faster since it is newer, but this would be rare.

One actual drawback with 64bit is that it uses more memory for the same amount of data (not double!) which loads the caches more and means you want more RAM and bigger cache vs 32bit.

All that aside, I see no reason to avoid 64 bit as long as you get 6GB RAM or more, stay away from CPUs with tiny caches and are able to make some work-around decisions, like using other software than you are used to. But when the coming winter is over I would guess all the issues with software support should be history.

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Shadowex3

Axel if you're going to go against benchmark results and even common sense that much, especially if you're going to claim that somehow being 64bit is going to make something take more memory than if it were merely 32 bit, i'm going to need some citations.

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Lasereth

I'm in charge of getting Windows 7 64-bit running at work. We've been using 32-bit XP for years and we have lots of proprietary software so this is gonna be fun.

My first problem so far: when I try to add a networked active directory domain printer to this new computer it gives an error message saying it can't find driver, printer could not be added. If I add it by IP address, it works. Any ideas?? I've tried everything on google and nothing has worked so far.

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Daemon1313

A 64 bit application will always use more memory. Not always going to be significant but it will. Ignoring the data being stored even, the address of each variable will take up 8 bytes of memory on a 64-bit machine vs 4 bytes on a 32-bit machine. This is magnified by the data taking up additional space. Again a long integer will take up 8 bytes vs 4 bytes. There are ways of mitigating this but no on in their right mind will go through the hassle unless the app is using a huge chunk of data. I've had to do it and its not fun.

There are applications that will see a performance degradation when they are converted to 64-bit. This is usually due to things like increased mathematical complexity, increased loads on hardware and changes in timing. A developer who understands 64-bit development can usually correct these.

I've been doing 64-bit development and converting of 32-bit applications to 64-bit for several years and I've seen the full gamut of improvements and degradations caused by 64-bit apps.

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