Should I get 64 bit Windows Vista
 

I'm finally getting a new system so I can capture from my HV20 and I'm considering getting the 64 bit version of Vista for the speed. But, is it compatible with the latest versions of the most popular video editing software?

One other note - I'm thinking that by ordering a new system from the manufacturer equipped this way that I should minimize my chances of compatibility issues since everything will work out of the box. It would be different if I was upgrading to this type operating system.

Still, I'm looking for opinions or other peoples experience since one of my main goals with this system is to finally be able to edit my footage from the DV20. Thanks.

Is the software actually 64 bit ready...
 

This is the real question. The software has to be ready to use the full instruction set offered by Vista-64. Premiere isn't. This doest not mean that it will not run on Vista-64, just that you might not notice increased processing speed. You will have to check individual websites.

I use Vista-64 on an HP Quad Core processor and although the processor is super fast, Premiere (the only one I use now) doesn't really take advantage of the processor. I also have this machine running with 4 Gig of RAM. This makes a difference too.

But in the end... a big machine will process faster!

The one thing 64 bit will give you is that it can address more memory. 32 bit can address 4 GB of RAM (less the overhead dedicated to other system resources, which usually means a bit over 3 GB depending on your configuration). I would assume that stuff like rendering would go quicker with >4 GB or RAM, but haven't seen any comparisons.

Premiere runs fine and quite snappy with Vista 64 on my system, even though it isn't designed as a 64 bit app.

Win64 or not
 

Following is valid for both WinXP64 and Vista 64.

Take a note of all the peripherals as well as drivers in your Device Manager.
Peripherals are more important, as many manufacturers are not writing compatible drivers for older printers, scanners and the like.

If you PC is relatively new, and of course has a 64bit CPU, likely there will be drivers for it.

Nonetheless in both cases, you should check the manufacturer website to see if there's 64bit flavors out there. It is suggested if unsure and want to be extra careful, see if you get a trial version of the 64bit OS and load it on a spare hard drive to see if it works out.

Also determine if your motherboard will support 4 gig or RAM and allow Win64 to address it. You may have to update the bios to do this. In fact I recommend you have the latest BIOS if going to VIsta64, in particular.

Another option, which I really like -- with big hard drives available relatively cheap, partition only a part the drive (at least 60gig) and install each OS on it. I have three partitions - two WinXP32's and a WinXP64 in anticipation of Vegas going 64bit in September. It was a bit of a pain to do, but now I have a stable Win32 NLE and I can ease into the Win64 NLE when Vegas64 is released. The second Win32 is my "general purpose" partition for e-mail, etc. I did this because some peripherals won't run in Win64.

It should be OK
 

James,

Matt is buying a new system. So he will not have compatibility issues. This is the best way to go. I bought an HP system with Windows Vista-64 pre-installed. It even had Service Pack 1 up to date! Trouble free since day one.

I run my graphics software on the main partition, without even anti-virus on. User account control is on, though. This is Vista's standard procedure.

I run only a few programs that way. The rest of my stuff (email, web, Miro, etc) runs in a VMWare environment (www.vmware.com) running XP. This way, the main environment stays ultra clean, offering optimum performance and extremely low risk of ever being attacked by a virus. I might even change that and use the old machine to run day to day programs. I'll see. But I love Vista so much now that Microsoft has had the time to clean it up!!

For now I use my old system as a storage machine running FreeNAS (freenas.org). I have fout 500 Gig hard drive mounted in RAID 1. This system is in the basement, safe.