We assume Apple will provide iPhone’s 64-bit Windows compatibility with software updates.

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ForceWare 158.18 (Updated April 18, 2007) Release Highlights:

• Added NVIDIA SLI profile for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
• Adds support for GeForce 8600 GTS, GeForce 8600 GT, and GeForce 8500 GT, GeForce 8400 GS, and GeForce 8300 GS GPUs.
• Increased performance in 3D applications.
• PureVideo HD support.
• Add support for forcing Vertical Sync in DirectX applications.
• Updated NVIDIA Control Panel with improved user interface.
• Numerous game and application compatibility fixes.
• This driver supports the following 3D features:
Single GPU support:
- DirectX 9 support for GeForce 6/7/8 series GPUs
- DirectX 10 support for GeForce 8 series GPUs
- OpenGL support for GeForce 6/7/8 series GPUs
NVIDIA SLI support:
- DirectX 9 support for 6/7/8 series GPUs
- OpenGL support for 6/7/8 series GPUs
• DirectX 10 NVIDIA SLI support for GeForce 8800 GPUs will be available in a future driver

NVIDIA ForceWare 158.18 for Windows Vista 64-bit can be downloaded from Company’s web-site.

ATI Catalyst 7.3 introduces OpenGL CrossFire support for the entire ATI Radeon X1000 product series under 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista. Users will see significant performance gains in a number of applications when running in CrossFire mode under Windows Vista, according to Release Notes.

“Catalyst 7.3 includes CrossFire enhancements for Windows Vista that enable the Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) CrossFire rendering mode by default, enabling performance benefits for all AFR compatible applications immediately (including newly released applications that have not been officially profiled for CrossFire). Future Catalyst releases will add further CrossFire performance gains once new applications have been profiled specifically for CrossFire”, AMD ATI says.

It is claimed that Dark Messiah Might and Magic performance improves 12.5% or greater on all Radeon X1000 series configurations when running in CrossFire mode under both the Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. Larger gains of 60% or more can be seen on high end products.

The resolved issues for the Windows Vista Operating System include fixes for 3DMark2006, as well as for Call of Duty, Call of Duty - United Offensive, City of Heroes, Doom 3, NBA Live 07, Never Winter Nights and Never Winter Nights - Shadows of Undrentide.

The Catalyst 7.3 for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP is also released.

Download Catalyst 7.3 Display Driver for Windows Vista (64 bit)
Download Catalyst 7.3 for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

“Mainstream users are best served with the 32-bit applications of Windows Vista and will experience the greatest compatibility with peripherals, applications, and improved features. The use of 64-bit implementations of Vista should be based on need. If you have a special application or operational requirement today that mandates this extended version of Vista, proceed ahead; just be sure to research and resolve potential conflicts and remedies first. Windows Vista 64 will gather increased momentum and acceptance; however the practical return on investment may be years away. As with any new product offering, the key will be testing the Vista environment with current application prior to making an upgrade decision,” Array System’s says in analysis on Microsoft’s 32-bit and 64-bit Vista.

Array Systems

“Did you buy Vista x64 but find that almost nothing will play in MediaCenter? Do you want to watch your favorite video’s in MediaCenter? These package is tested on Vista Ultimate x64. It is a fully functional standalone installation,” the publisher’s description says.

More Info and Download

Microsoft explains that the “Certified for Windows Vista” logo is a compatibility designation for applications and devices that have passed a rigorous testing program on computers that are running Windows Vista. The technical requirements for this designation target four core areas: reliability, security, compatibility with Windows Vista and future operating systems, and installation and removal.

The “Works with Windows Vista” logo is a compatibility designation that is designed to encourage Windows Vista compatibility for the current generation of Windows-based applications. To receive this designation, software companies test their applications to make sure that the applications meet the program’s guidelines.

However, there are many applications that are compatible and work well with Windows Vista but that are not listed in this compatibility list, because such applications have not yet gone through the Windows Vista logo program or are still going though this program. The new applications are continually being added to the program, Microsoft says.

You can see the Microsoft’s list here.

Also, at Iexbeta.com there is a Windows Vista RTM Software Compatibility List, maintained by users’ community, with 32-bit and 64-bit applications listed.

Release Highlights of the ForceWare 100.65 include:

- WHQL Certified driver for GeForce 8800, GeForce 7 series and GeForce 6 series GPUs
- Beta driver for NVIDIA SLI support for GeForce 8800 GTX/GTS GPUs

ForceWare 100.65 driver incorporates the following features:

- Single GPU support
- DirectX 9 support for GeForce 6/7/8 series GPUs
- DirectX 10 support for GeForce 8800 GPUs
- OpenGL support for GeForce 6/7/8 series GPUs
- NVIDIA SLI support
- DirectX 9 support for GeForce 8800 GPUs
- OpenGL support for GeForce 8800 GPUs
- DirectX 9 and OpenGL NVIDIA SLI support for GeForce 6 and 7 series GPUs and DirectX 10 NVIDIA SLI support for GeForce 8800 GPUs will be available in a future driver

Microsft says DirectX 10 features enhanced 3-D graphics-rendering capabilities and helps noticeably improve your computer’s in-game and multimedia performance.

According to the reports, many of the PC games scheduled for release in 2007 have been designed to exploit the new features of DirectX 10. It is not known if these games will be released for 64-bit operating systems.

The ForceWare 100.65 for Windows Vista 64-bit can be downloaded at NVIDIA’s official web site.

Along with support for Windows Vista 64-bit as a host, VPC 2007 compared to previous VPC 2004 also includes support for 32-bit Vista as a host and as a guest OS. The performance is also improved compared to Virtual PC 2004, Microsoft says.

The Virtual PC 2007 1.0 can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft’s official web site.

CyberLink Software Encoder 1.1 offers native 64-bit support for PCs using the Windows Vista operating system. The benefits include better multi-tasking with less loading on system resources, as same as creation of larger, higher-quality, video files achieved by using more memory made available on 64-bit systems, according to CyberLink.

The 64-bit Encoder 1.1 also provides more accurate recording of TV content, ensuring fewer jitters and frame drops, creating files that deliver a smoother viewing experience, the Corporation says.

The new encoding software is optimized for dual-core processors from Intel and AMD.

“With real-time encoder CyberLink Software Encoder, users can record TV programs while performing other tasks,” said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. “Optimization for Windows Vista and the latest processors ensures processing-intensive TV recording is performed with minimal burden on a computer’s CPU, delivering smooth DVD-quality video, while ensuring enough processing power for other common tasks.”

The CyberLink Software Encoder meets the requirements for the Windows Logo Program (WLP) for Windows Vista.

CyberLink

CryptoExpert creates encrypted virtual disks and these disks are visible as usual disks with drive letters. It uses four powerful encryption algorithms to encrypt your data: AES, BLOWFISH, CAST and 3DES, which are world’s standards of encryption. CryptoExpert 2007 PRO supports 256 Gb and larger encrypted drive.

Both 32-bit and 64-bit CryptoExpert 2007 PRO Trial free download, as same as full versions priced at $59.95, are available at SecureAction’s website.

“Earlier antivirus product versions are not compatible with Vista because of the operating system’s new architecture. With Maintenance Pack 2, Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 will be fully compatible with both the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista. At the same time, Maintenance Pack 2 includes all the features and additions that were included in the first Maintenance pack, including full-scale support for Windows XP 64-bit Edition, extended on-demand scanning functionality, a number of improvements to the proactive defense module and protection of Windows Task Manager against injection of malicious dynamic-link libraries (dll),” the company’s press release says.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 protects the computer against penetration of malicious programs, while Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 is an integrated solution that protects the PC against all types of IT threats, including malicious programs, spyware, hacker attacks, network fraud and spam. It is explained that the antivirus component of Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 includes all the capabilities of Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0.

Kaspersky Product Updates

According to the CompUSA’s product pages, Windows Vista Basic, Home Premium and Business ship with 32-bit DVD only, while the Ultimate comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

CompUSA.com: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - 66L-00002 - Software » Operating Systems » Windows
Windows Vista Basic, Home Premium and Business all ship with 32-bit DVD and information on obtaining 32-bit CDs or a 64-bit DVD, additional fees may apply.

CompUSA.com: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate - 66R-00002 - Software » Operating Systems » Windows
Windows Vista Ultimate ships with 32-bit and 64-bit DVD and information on obtaining 32-bit CDs, additional fees may apply.

The Vista Ultimate is priced at $399 at CompUSA, but it can be found at Amazon for $378.

“Without an exception, they all think it’s too early and the drivers won’t be that polished for 64 bit either. AMD and Intel have CPUs which can support 64 operating systems but the drivers are still lame, unpolished and slow compared with 32 bit,” the report says.

Intel also said that Vista 32 is fine as it will address 2.75 or 3.25GB from the 4GB of memory, if provided.

The Inquirer

“It’s definitely a ‘when’ question, not an ‘if’, and there are a lot of factors involved,” Byer said in his blog.

But, he reminded that a 64-bit version of Photoshop would have to be a completely separate binary from the 32-bit version, causing an extra cost.

“A separate binary has a huge cost associated with it (in terms of features we can’t do because we have to spend resources elsewhere). Quality assurance is a big part of that - you essentially have to dive in and test every corner of the app for each binary, across the matrix of supported operating systems - but there are also many ancillary pieces that add to that cost as well. And given that a Universal Binary application really is two separate binaries smashed together (and accounting for the kinds of issues that an application can have going from big endian (PPC) to little endian) we already had a lot of extra cost going through this cycle. Adding the cost of adding a 64-bit version to the mix of things that were already on the have-to-do list - especially in light of the very limited benefits - and doing a 64-bit version this cycle really became an unreasonable thing to think about it,” Byer explained.

He assumes that number of Photoshop customers running the 64-bit Windows Vista will be very small over the next couple of years. Also, since Macintosh OS X 10.4 isn’t fully 64-bit - many of the libraries an application would need to be fully 64-bit aren’t available, so Mac users currently could not run a 64-bit version of Photoshop, even if it is available.

Scott Byer’s Blog

Both 32-bit and 64-bit tests were done on a budget AMD Sempron 2800+ powered desktop PC, featuring Asus K8U-X motherboard with 512MB of main memory.

The 32-bit Windows Vista Ultimate achived 99.8 GeekBench points, while the 64-bit version of the same OS gained 110.7 points. The higher number of points is better. This Windows Vista 32-bit vs 64-bit benchmark consist of measuring integer performance, floating point performance, as same as memory and stream performance.

GeekBench

You can watch the webcast here:
http://www.microsoft.com/events/executives/billgates.mspx

Old page version: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today announces business availability of Windows Vista, the 2007 Office system, and Exchange Server 2007 at a press conference in New York City. The webcast begins at 7:35 a.m. PST / 10:35 a.m. EST.

You can watch it in your Media Player by clicking here:

The company says users currently must use 32-bit Flash Player in 32-bit browser to view Flash content on a 64-bit operating system. In 64-bit Windows Vista both 64-bit and emulated 32-bit Internet Explorer are installed by default. Linux users must install 32-bit browser and 32-bit Flash Player plug-in on their 64-bit operating systems.

Since 64-bit Linux users downgrade their browsers for years in order to use Flash, and since Microsoft’s 64-bit Vista (retail) and Apple’s 64-bit Mac OS X Leopard operating systems are scheduled to ship in January and spring 2007 respectively, we hope that 64-bit Flash will be released by then.

“Because of a Microsoft request, the many versions of the Windows Vista operating system are not currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com. They are estimated to be available January 30, 2007, and you can sign up at right to be notified via e-mail when Vista becomes available for pre-order. If you’ve already pre-ordered Vista at Amazon.com, your order will be fulfilled when the software is available”, the Windows Vista product pages at Amazon.com say.

Since August, when the pre-order offer started, there was no information about which listed Vista DVD is 32-bit and which is 64-bit version. There were only different Vista editions, such as Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate, as same as offered corresponding upgrades from XP.

It was reported earlier this week that Windows Vista will ship on a single DVD, in either a 32- or 64-bit configuration, while users of Windows Vista Ultimate will get both versions.

Washington Technology reported that Vista will ship on a single DVD, in either a 32- or 64-bit configuration, while users of Windows Vista Ultimate will get both versions.

It was reported earlier that Microsoft will be shifting its products to 64-bit only.

Here is a simplified list of listed Windows Vista versions.

See full list here: Windows Vista Pre-Order

“Any next-generation high definition content will not play in x32 at all. This is a decision that the Media Player folks made because there are just too many ways right now for unsigned kernel mode code [to compromise content protection]. The media companies asked us to do this and said they don’t want any of their high definition content to play in x32 at all, because of all of the unsigned malware that runs in kernel mode can get around content protection, so we had to do this,” Riley said during the TechEd 2006 in Sydney.

But, Anderson says “it is up to the ISVs providing playback solutions to determine whether the intended playback environment, including environments with a 32-bit CPU, meets the performance requirements to allow high-definition playback while supporting the guidelines set forth by the content owners”.

“No version of Windows Vista will make a determination as to whether any given piece of content should play back or not”, Microsoft PR manager tells CNet.

Dean Pullen in his article for The Inquirer sees Leopard’s non-emulated support for 32-bit applications and drivers as a great advantage compared to 64-bit version of Windows Vista.

“Note that the non-emulated support in OSX is for applications and drivers. 32-bit programs on Vista 64 need to work on WOW emulation to run in Vista, and 32-bit drivers are a no-no. Lack of driver support is the main reason Windows XP x64 hasn’t been widely adopted, and why the Vista fudge will ensure hardware incompatibilities between the two Windows versions remain for sometime to come.

This is quite a boon for OSX, and one that should be highlighted frequently and often,” says Pullen.

64-bit Leopard knocks spots off Vista

AMD has been the king of 64-bit computing for some time now and no matter what Intel has attempted to throw in front of them, AMD have hurdled over it. With the release of the new AMD AM2 Motherboards and processors AMD are now not only pushing the envelope on the 64-bit and Dual Core front, they are reducing the amount of energy and power that the processors take up, thus producing quieter and cooler PC’s. The big question is, has the wait for the new AM2 processors and motherboards been worth it? Do we see any benefit from using DDR2 memory compared to the old DDR2 on the previous Socket 939 processors, read on and we’ll find out. This review will also concentrate on the future impact the processor will have when used with Windows Vista, we’ll be putting it through its paces on the newly released beta 2 version of the upcoming Microsoft operating system.

ActiveWin: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Processor- Review

One major enhancement in Windows Vista 64-bit edition is that they provide much improved security features over the plain 32-bit versions. thanks to the No Execute (NX) technology and Data Execution Protection (DEP) which help to try and prevent buffer overflows that are the most common used attacks around today. So all in all everything looks very promising for Windows Vista performance on the latest AMD based processors, personally I can’t wait for the new operating system to come out.

ActiveWin: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Processor- Review

Super Pi calculates a specified about of digits past the decimal place. In our case, I ran the 8 Million test, which turned out to be in x64’s favor. Overall, x64 shaved 12 seconds off what the 64-Bit version of Vista could do. For minor multi-media benchmarking, I used Nero Recode to recompress a DVD video. I first extracted the video, in this case “Bad Religion - Live At The Palladium”, and used Recode to compress it so that it could be burned to a standard 4.5GB DVD.

The results are odd here. There was a huge hike in 64-Bit Vista with 2GB, but that didn’t happen with 4GB installed. In the end, x64 proved to compress the video more than 2 minutes faster than Vista.

Techgage - Review: Windows Vista Beta 2 Performance Reports

I have been running Windows Vista for the last couple of months now on my main work laptop (64-bit AMD Turion, 2Gb ram, ATI Radeon Xpress 200M graphics), which I am typing this up on now, and it’s been running on my Dual Opteron workstation (Dual 2Gz Opteron, 2Gb ram, NVidia 6600 Graphics) at home since I got it and 3 months ago. Since then I have had some minor issues with different builds, but the system works without flaw 99% of the time, if not more. There are some driver issues (namely lack of a sound driver and card reader for my laptop, and I think the issues with the noise from the Opterons may be caused by an older system driver), but this is to be expected for beta software. I haven’t had my system Crash fully in a while now with it running. I have had one or 2 graphics driver crashes, but this did not cause an issue because the graphics driver was unloaded and reloaded and the system stayed up, and everything where I left it.

There is not a lot about x64 (64-bit) I can tell you that you probably don’t already know, but the thing that interests me most about it is the fact that Vista is fully supportive of x64 (64-bit). With Windows XP, x64 did not ship at RTM time, and it was a different kernel to XP. XP was version 5.0 of the kernel, but X64 XP was 5.1, the same kernel as windows 2003 server. This is not a bad thing, as Servers are generally more stable then client machines, but it caused some issues. Also drivers where a problem. Now I know I just said I had driver issues, but if all goes to plan, these will go away. At the moment there are a lot of machines selling with x64 (or EMT64) processors, but a lot of these ship with Windows XP 32 bit edition. I hope that the release of vista will solve this problem and give us some proper support for X64 as a platform.

Tiernans Comms Closet : Windows Vista Review: Part 1: Stability, performance, x64

There is also option to have the Windows Vista Beta 2 and RC1 DVD kits sent to your home or office. This option requires payment to cover DVD production, shipping, and handling costs.

You can download Vista Beta 2 here: Windows Vista: Customer Preview Program.

My advice is to buy the 64-bit CPU now, run it in 32-bit mode and then move up to a 64-bit OS with the swap to Vista.

SMB IT | InfoWorld | Vista Hardware: What to Buy Today for Tomorrow’s OS | June 5, 2006 05:16 PM | By Oliver Rist

SearchWinIT.com: Your job, as you describe it, is to make sure AMD and Microsoft products work together. What have you been collaborating on recently

Barry Crume: We are helping Microsoft make all their products with a clear bias toward 64-bit and dual core processors. Recently a lot of the emphasis has been on Vista and it has been exciting to have the challenge of solving some of the complexities of developing an operating system. Developing complex code takes engineers a lot of time and [a lot of testing]. Million-line code problems are tough to solve. It may have complexity on the back side, which means you need a lot of computing horsepower. But at end of day, if it is easy to understand, then we have solved the problem.

AMD chips signal new era in Windows shops

The Microsoft chairman and chief software architect also used his keynote at WinHEC to announce the availability of beta 2 releases of three major products: Microsoft’s latest and long-awaited operating system (OS) Windows Vista, its next office suite, Microsoft Office 2007, and Windows Server, codenamed Longhorn.

While the beta 2 of Windows Vista is available, the consumer version of the new OS could be pushed back past the stated January launch date, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at a news conference in Tokyo.

The operating system was due to be launched this year but in March the company said it wouldn’t get broad release until January 2007. Ballmer said the planned January launch may slip further based on feedback from a beta release program and the product road-maps of hardware vendors.

Enterprise Infrastructure > Servers and Mainframes > WinHEC: Microsoft moving to 64 bit only, says Gates