So all those XPS 13s have a 64-bit OS, what if you wanted to go 32-bit?

Could you use the same code if you had a Windows Disc? Recommending something to a friend but not sure if they can/will be bothered to deal with 64-bit OS.

(Yes I know not being able to use all the RAM but whatever).

Thanks

 

I ordered Vista Ultimate 32-bit with my XPS 13.

BTW the 64-bit was no option here...

 

call dell and ask them to call you 32 bit version since you want the 32 bit

 

Keys for a given "version" of Vista (home, home premium, ultimate etc) are the same for 32 bit or 64, so yeah you just need a 32 bit install disk.

 

I don't trust the receipt at all.
The order site says Vista 64-bit, receipt 32 bit.
The order site says 1.3 MP camera, receipt 2.0 MP.
The order site says Intel 2.20 GHz, receipt 2.26 GHz.
The order site says No Security/Anti-Virus Protection, receipt McAfee Security Centre 30 Day Trial Version.
Also, there are two notes of DataSafe, "DataSafe Online Backup 2GB" and "DataSafe Online size - 2GB Trial".

 

There's not much to "deal" with, unless you have old and incompatible peripherals or really outdated programs.

At this point I'd recommend 64-bit except if you have specific compatibility needs.

 

I agree. I've installed Vista Ultimate x64 on my machine just recently and have had zero incompatibilities running any 32-bit application. I've even gone so far as to run Jagged Alliance 2(published in '98, I think?) on this OS and experienced zero issues. Unless you have a specific program that just will not play nice with a 64-bit OS, I'd stick with it.

 

Main program I have not been able to find for 64 bit is the Cisco VPN software.

 

* A 32 bit OS can only use 4GB of memory total, that means if you have 4GB of ram and your graphic card has 1GB of ram, you have a total of 5GB of memory.

* Out of that 5GB of memory, you can only use 4GB total. 1GB the graphic card will take up, so now the 32bit OS can only use 3GB.

* Enabling PAE, will limit to the OS to 2GB total. What PAE does is dedicate 2GB to OS and the other 2GB to anything other then the OS. Apparently some people don't understand how PAE works and think that some how it can magically make a 32bit XP use more then 4GB, which is impossible, so after noticing my explanation is not getting through, I thought a visual from MS itself might help sink it in, you can see it here: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEdrv.mspx

* Vista 32bit can see only 3.5GB of ram total. The new sp1 only reports how much memory you have intalled, not how much memory you can use.

Found this on another web site...one of the main limitations with 32bit os's are RAM only recognized up to 3-4 gigs.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx

 

You sure about that first part? My understanding is that PAE is specifically used to allow PCI devices (ie video cards) to use up to 36bits of address space to prevent them from eating up the system programs 32bit address space. For example I have a 640MB 8800GTS and 3.2 gb of usable ram on my xp box with 4 gb, my laptop has a 1gb 9800m and also has 3.2gb of usable ram. PAE doesn't allow PROGRAMS any more than 3.2 GB of address space because of the massive compatibility issues that would be incurred with software and drivers. Otherwise we'd be hearing horror stories about people with crossfire and sli 1gb cards having less than 2gb of address space.

 

You can indeed use the same key for both Vista 32-bit and 64-bit.

As for compatiblity, hell I use XP64 on my m1330, I have all the drivers and everything runs dandy. Aside from Live Installer not working (so I had to grab a standalone .msi of Live Messenger 9), everything operates identically to if I was using a 32-bit OS. I know you're talking about Vista, but I'm trying to say that people's paranoia about 64-bit OS's and compatibility is unfounded.