Do I need Win7 64bit for my Nehalem Mac Pro?

[absynthetic]

How do I know if I need Windows 32 bit or 64 bit? I don't think I'll be using any 64 bit programs on the Windows partition, but maybe in case I do, I should just get the 64 bit? It's possible, I suppose, I do a lot of audio production. I just prefer Mac OSX for most of that.

I've got an early 2009 quadcore 2.93GHz Mac Pro.

But yeah, which one? And is Windows 7 going to be as spirit crushing as Vista? Maybe I should just stick with XP...

Oh yeah, I tried searching the forums, but the search string seems to ignore numbers, and "windows bit" didn't really come up with anything that answered my question...

 

[balamw]

Oh yeah, I tried searching the forums, but the search string seems to ignore numbers, and "windows bit" didn't really come up with anything that answered my question...

Stickied to the top of the forum: http://guides.macrumors.com/Choosing_which_version_of_Windows_7_to_install

One thing you neglected to mention. How much RAM in your Mac Pro? For a 2009 model, if you have 4 GB or more you should probably stick with 64 bit.

7 is what Vista should have been. Takes many cues from OS X and (IMHO) even does some things better, like Aero Peek.

B

 

[jzuena]

How do I know if I need Windows 32 bit or 64 bit? I don't think I'll be using any 64 bit programs on the Windows partition, but maybe in case I do, I should just get the 64 bit? It's possible, I suppose, I do a lot of audio production. I just prefer Mac OSX for most of that.

I've got an early 2009 quadcore 2.93GHz Mac Pro.

But yeah, which one? And is Windows 7 going to be as spirit crushing as Vista? Maybe I should just stick with XP...

Oh yeah, I tried searching the forums, but the search string seems to ignore numbers, and "windows bit" didn't really come up with anything that answered my question...

If the price is the same, I'd just go ahead and get the 64-bit version. With previous versions of Windows you couldn't run 32-bit apps on the 64-bit version, but 7 lets you do so. If you already have XP and don't have any apps that require 7, you could just stick with what you have. It doesn't make as much of a difference in Bootcamp where Windows has access to all of the machine's resources, but if you run Windows as a virtual machine, XP can run with less memory (not that memory should be a problem on a Mac Pro).

 

[balamw]

If the price is the same, I'd just go ahead and get the 64-bit version.

NOTE: If you buy a retail version (full or upgrade) you get discs for both 32 and 64 bit versions.

Only OEM, which is explicitly not licensed for end users, forces you to choose 32 bit vs. 64 bit.

B