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Working at a computer repair shop, I run into a few gamers, programmers, and the like, asking about the new dual core CPUs and XP 64 and Vista. Well prepare for heart-break on both sides, o' you who wish the ultimate computer.

First, lets deal with the XP 64, and in short here is the situation.

XP 64 is directed toward memory and CPU hungry applications and will run these better.
Problem – few 64 Bit applications exist to take advantage of this new found power. There is a 64 bit version of firefox, but according to PC World, it works just the same.

You thought windows 2000 was a pane…(tehehe get it, windows….pane pain… to get new drivers and bios updates for, just wait till XP 64. Like your high speed Ethernet card with those older 32 bit drivers…wont work on the brand smacking new XP 64. Once again, PC World points out that Dell’s support for the new 64 bit drivers failed to work on XP 64, bummer.

This one bites the big one. I know that legally, if you exchange the mobo in an XP machine you are supposed to purchase a new license or the XP copy you bought is not legal. To add torment to craziness, if you buy the “upgrade� version of XP 64, you no longer have a legal right to run both XP 32 (home or pro) and the new XP 64 as a dual boot. Did I also mention you cannot revert back to the original XP legally as well? Stinkith don’t it?

Oh and here is where the bits come to bite you back, (ah ha I’m punny today). Norton Antivirus , AVG, Zonelabs firewall, and a few others won’t even install on XP 64. I’m going to have to quote from PC world again “ XP 64 doesn’t run 16 bit apps, including 32-bit programs that rely on a 16-bit installer.�

Oh I think Bill neeeeeds this Destructo ray.

Dual core you say? More power you say? XX! Sorry , that’s two strikes, one more and the other family gets a go.

Remember that not only does a dual core boast the 64 bit barrier, the architecture for the way it handles data is also a new ditty to deal with. Now that you found the drivers, the applications, the O/S, and the aspirin, now you have to find software that addressed that dual core goodness and guess what, as of right now there is only one game out there that does and its some kind of combat flight sim. Check this out for more dual core gaming woes. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21930

The dual core was really designed for the server level processing and not games. To crunch those terabytes of data that daily flow through a server those dual cores are the ticket, but games make the money too.

So much technology, not enough hammers.

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Dual core is just like using dual CPUs: you can't split one application between CPUs unless it threads into each.
That's why consumers don't need dual-core and that's why MS is a piece of crap. Vista is a waste of money and resources.