Do I need 64bit Win XP for a dual core 64 bit CPU?

[O'neal11]

I didn't even think of it when I ordered my new system. I currently have the same copy of windows xp home I've had all along. Do I need to get 64 bit XP professional for my Athlon 64 X2 dual core processor to work? I'd hate to have to have to buy a retail copy.. argh
Thanks

[starshooter10]

a 32b XP will run on todays CPU"s but if you want the use the full 64bits of your CPU you need X64 XP


so it'll run as is..

just not in 64b mode

[traderonline]

it'd be great to run a 64 bit operating system if you can get all the required drivers. 64 bit works very efficiently on memory hungry applications.

[TurcoLoco]

64bit CPU will not be fully utilized by the 32bit OS but the 32bit OS will still run better on a 64bit CPU than a 32bit CPU.

Most Linux distros are 64bit to my best knowledge. The newest versions of Suse and Fedora Core are awesome but if you can't ditch Windows for whatever reasons then I'd suggest looking into seting up a dual-boot system.

[Gizmokid2005]

Yup, it runs better, just not tons....but it is noticeable (coming from a user )

[break]

Since there is still quite a few driver issues with 64bit versions of Windows, basically the only reason to use 64bit is for a tiny bit of a performance boost, and the ability to utilize 4096+ Megabytes of RAM.

[Gizmokid2005]

64-bit XP is outdated now that vista is out, with native 64-bit support...but still neither OS has much support.