...a LONG shot, but I've had decent luck with most 32-bit apps working on our 64-bit install of 7 Home Premium. That being said, there ARE SQL applications and what not that my wife uses (she's the programmer/analyst, not me...I just get to play the IT guy who doesn't have a clue most of the time) that in turn forced my hand to do an 'Anytime Upgrade' up to Win7 Pro so I could install XP Mode and Redmond's Virtual PC on the machine as downloaded from Microsoft (which runs in 32-bit mode). Her various 32-bit apps now seem quite happy--at least they're not protesting--on this i7 box.
Wasn't pleased at the extra $80 the upgrade cost when purchased from Amazon (all you get is a product key; seems like it didn't really do much other than switch around some things already in place on the computer. Not much additional at all was downloaded from MSFT). But hey, the machine's running pretty sweet and she's a happy camper...at least for now.
old laptop: 32 bit Win XP SP3 on 32 bit CPU
new laptop: 64 bit Win 7 on 64 bit dual-core CPU
(once i'm up 'n runnin with the new machine i'm planning to install Linux on the old one)
Some of my old (presumably) 32 bit applications either won't run at all, or not properly, on the new machine. After reading around this a bit I'm thinking that I'd have the same problems with WinXP 64-bit, so my best options are to change the OS to either WinXP 32-bit or Win7-32 bit & wait for 64 bit versions of software to appear.
Questions:
1) am i right about WinXP 64-bit i.e. that it's being 64 bit that's the issue, not which OS?
2) if it's "yes" to my 1st question then is there any reason to choose XP 32 over Win7 32 or vice versa, other than preference & what I'm used to?
3) I've got an old copy of XPpro SP1 - does anyone know of any reason why i couldn't install that & then get updates?
4) +/- what % speed difference would there be between a 64bit CPU with a 64bit OS & 64bit CPU with a 32bit OS - all other things being equal?
5) any other advice or comments - any other options i've not mentioned?
Thanks

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