The Great 64-bit Myth

Sometimes, you just get so annoyed you have to rant or you’ll explode.  The object of my ire this day is all the notebook vendors who claim to support "4GB of RAM" and Vista.  Bulls**t!!!  Buy one, try to install Vista x64 so you can use that $500 worth of 4 gig goodness and see what happens.  No drivers.  No applications.  No support.  Nada.  Bupkus.  Zippo.

 

So I come to this state of intense aggravation after purchasing the latest and greatest Tablet PC from Toshiba (that’s right Toshiba, I’m calling you out).  Nice machine, no doubt about it, but Toshiba refuses – that’s right, flat out REFUSES, to support a 64-bit OS.  Now, I can understand that my fancy touch-panel might not work or that they would balk at supporting Windows Server 2008 but 64-bit Vista?  Seriously?  You damn betcha – not even a video or touchpad driver (and don’t try to tell me to get them from Intel or Synaptics – been there, done that, a dozen times or more with no luck). 

 

So where does that leave me?  Having to go back to Vista 32-bit and 3GB of RAM, that’s where.  Know how much nicer it is to run MOSS on Virtual PC on a 64-bit machine?  I wish I did ’cause I’m not allowed to experience such sweet nirvana.  It’s almost enough to drive me off of tablets and back to a regular notebook but in comparing notes with a few friends who’ve also tried to take the 64-bit plunge I discover that they too have given up and gone back to the slow-and-sad world of x86 – on Dell, Lenovo, and HP machines no less! 

 

This madness has to end.  It’s high time we started demanding that lazy vendors get off their duff and release 64-bit drivers right along with the 32-bit ones.  It reallly isn’t that hard.  But they won’t do it until consumers put enough pressure on them, ’cause the truth is they really don’t give a rat’s rear end; they’re pushing lots of boxes out the door so who cares what we (the small minority of power-users) want.  If this gets your blood boiling like it does mine, then do something about it.  The next time you pull out your wallet to buy a new notebook ask the sales rep if they have a FULL suite of 64-bit drives comparable to the 32-bit ones and tell them you’ll go somewhere else if they don’t.  Maybe if enough reps get their ears chewed on they’ll raise a stink to the suits and we’ll finally get to move into the 21st century.

 

Maybe.  But this cowboy ain’t holding his breath…