WinXP-64 and Athlon64

J.Venning wrote:
"Randy Howard" wrote:
A great idea, if he knows Linux. If he doesn't (and judging by
the thread so far it seems unlikely) it's a really bad idea.

Hi,

I've just spent the last two days playing around with Linux x64.
Installing it on my harddisk was a problem, since various error
dialogues kept creeping up which I had to ignore, and when I finally
managed to install it,

my scanner won't work, and my keyboard and mouse couldn't be
programmed,

Will the scanner work on XP-64? Will your keyboard and mouse be
programmable on XP-64? If the manufacturers prefer selling new,
XP-64-compliant hardware instead of creating new drivers for existing
hardware, then you'd never have a chance to get them running on XP-64.
But there are chances, that they can get working on Linux. But
unfortunately there is lot of hardware "built for Windows only". Then
you have nearly no chance at all.
Please check www.sane-project.org in order to see, if your scanner is
supported.

I would like to know from you folks who are using either one, whether
you managed to download updates to all the hardware you bought before
using the 64-bit operating system.

Well, not all hardware is supported. There are lots of add-on-cards or
external peripherals, that will only be supported by Windows: the
manufacturers just refuse to support other OS.

Experienced users check linux-compatibility before they buy their
hardware. Also experienced users will be able to compile the device
drivers, if source code is available. That's about Linux.

I for my self know, that most of my hardware would be supported by
Linux, but I'm actually not experienced enough to get them working.
Only an old Elsa ISDN USB device wouldn't work at all. On my new system
I haven't yet installed Linux due to a lack of time.
But if I switched to XP-64, I would have to replace much more hardwa
at least scanner, TV-device, DVB-T-device, the already mentioned
ISDN-device and possibly my soundcard. These components are partly old,
partly from manufacturers, who prefer selling new stuff instead of
supporting old ones (Artec), or from manufacturers who don't exist any
more. And also I'd have to buy some software upgrades.
So I would have to spend about 250EUR in addition to the licence fees
for XP-64 only to have slight, hardly measurable, performance increases
in particular applications. That's not worth the money, and even not
worth the bandwith needed to download XP-64 eval.

Greets,
Michael

"Michael Paul" wrote in message
oups.com...
Will the scanner work on XP-64? Will your keyboard and mouse be
programmable on XP-64? If the manufacturers prefer selling new,
XP-64-compliant hardware instead of creating new drivers for existing
hardware, then you'd never have a chance to get them running on XP-64.
But there are chances, that they can get working on Linux. But
unfortunately there is lot of hardware "built for Windows only". Then
you have nearly no chance at all.
Please check www.sane-project.org in order to see, if your scanner is
supported.
The answers to the above are both unfortunately negative - that's why I
wrote that I was back to square one with the Linux. As luck has it, the HP
scanner I have is one of the few which is not supported according to the
above-mentioned website.

Experienced users check linux-compatibility before they buy their
hardware. Also experienced users will be able to compile the device
drivers, if source code is available. That's about Linux.
I don't qualify as one, so I haven't the foggiest about getting the
relevant hardware.

I for my self know, that most of my hardware would be supported by
Linux, but I'm actually not experienced enough to get them working.
Only an old Elsa ISDN USB device wouldn't work at all. On my new system
I haven't yet installed Linux due to a lack of time.
But if I switched to XP-64, I would have to replace much more hardwa
at least scanner, TV-device, DVB-T-device, the already mentioned
ISDN-device and possibly my soundcard. These components are partly old,
partly from manufacturers, who prefer selling new stuff instead of
supporting old ones (Artec), or from manufacturers who don't exist any
more. And also I'd have to buy some software upgrades.
So I would have to spend about 250EUR in addition to the licence fees
for XP-64 only to have slight, hardly measurable, performance increases
in particular applications. That's not worth the money, and even not
worth the bandwith needed to download XP-64 eval.

Again, my sincere thanks for trying to help a newbie on this 64-bit
frontier. I had to go back to my old XP 32-bit to get things working - not
that I don't want to learn something new, but the time spent would be far to
much just to enable me to speed up a few of the programs and system
operations, specially when some of hardware I now have don't function with
64-bit OS. I have no doubt that I will eventually migrate to the 64-bit OS,
and buy a new set of hardware to go along with it. Now, when did you guys
say XP x64 will be on the market?
J.

Am Fri, 11 Mar 2005 16:54:54 +0100 schrieb J.Venning:

Hi,

"Michael Paul" wrote:
Will the scanner work on XP-64? Will your keyboard and mouse be
programmable on XP-64? [...]
But there are chances, that they can get working on Linux. [...]

The answers to the above are both unfortunately negative - that's why I
wrote that I was back to square one with the Linux.
Ok. I see now.

As luck has it, the HP scanner I have is one of the few which is not
supported according to the above-mentioned website.

That's bad, indeed.

Experienced users check linux-compatibility before they buy their
hardware. Also experienced users will be able to compile the device
drivers, if source code is available. That's about Linux.
I don't qualify as one, so I haven't the foggiest about getting the
relevant hardware.

I am a beginner (just managed to get a basic installation of Mandrake on
some older Machine - nearly easier than to install Windows:-)), but for
my next main OS won't come from Redmond, I choose hardware to buy more
carefully. Just feeding my favourite Search Engine with +$hardware
+Linux will do that job. And if I don't find any positive information,
then I know, what not to buy.
Yes, I have learned now.

[...]
So I would have to spend about 250EUR in addition to the licence fees
for XP-64 only to have slight, hardly measurable, performance increases
in particular applications. That's not worth the money, and even not
worth the bandwith needed to download XP-64 eval.

Again, my sincere thanks for trying to help a newbie on this 64-bit
frontier. I had to go back to my old XP 32-bit to get things working

I think, that's a good idea to stick with XP-32. You know that all your
hard- and software will work as intended.

- not that I don't want to learn something new,

The experiences you made up to now, this was not wasted time. You should
have learned a lot when you tried to get entirely unknown OS to work.

but the time spent would be far to
much just to enable me to speed up a few of the programs and system
operations, specially when some of hardware I now have don't function with
64-bit OS.

Yep. That's the point to say "Good Bye" to that 64-bit-hype.

I have no doubt that I will eventually migrate to the 64-bit OS,
and buy a new set of hardware to go along with it.

Why? There is no need. And the restrictions and annoyances provided by
Windows will increase with every new version. But YMMV.

Now, when did you guys
say XP x64 will be on the market?

MS plans to release End of April, 2005:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/57347 (sorry, german language)

Greets,
Michael

"Michael Paul" wrote in message
.. .
The experiences you made up to now, this was not wasted time. You should
have learned a lot when you tried to get entirely unknown OS to work.
Absolutely. However, I do have an engineering degree, so my mind is more
or less trained to tackle the basic technicality of handling a computer,
even though I am not familiar with the technology of the machine.

Why? There is no need. And the restrictions and annoyances provided by
Windows will increase with every new version. But YMMV.
The very same reason I switched over from the Mac to Windows, and from
Windows 98 to ME, and now XP. Whatever we may think about Microsoft's being
"The Evil Empire", I cannot believe that they would put out a new operating
system without a handful of advantages over an earlier version. Whether or
not these advances and advantages are necessary to what each of us is using
the computer is totally a different matter altogether.

MS plans to release End of April, 2005:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/57347 (sorry, german language)
Vielen dank. That's O.K. my German is not perfect, but I do speak and
read it - I live in Copenhagen, and one can't avoid learning several
languages at once in Hamlet's Kingdom. This has been a truly fruitful cyber
space acquaintance, without which I would not have learned about the x64,
nor Linux. Once gain, thank you.
J.