It has taken a while, but Microsoft has finally acknowledged that 64-bit Windows Vista PCs are finally ready to go mainstream.
In a tentative post at the official Windows Vista Blog, Microsoft's Chris Flores states that "there appears to be a shift taking place in the PC industry: the move from 32-bit to 64-bit PCs."
According to Flores, Microsoft has been tracking the growth of 64-bit PCs connected to Windows Update and there has been a substantial increase. In the last three months, the number of 64-bit Windows Vista PCs is said to have tripled in the US. Worldwide adoption is said to have doubled and 64-bit Windows Vista is growing much more rapidly than 32-bit, he adds.
Flores states that consumers now realise the benefits of 4GiB of memory or more. Though, stepping carefully, he adds that "if you only use your PC for a few tasks, and rarely do them at the same time, then you're unlikely to realise a measurable performance benefit today."
As a closing statement, he adds: "In the future, we expect both compatibility and performance of 64-bit PCs to continue to improve. Most hardware devices have 64-bit drivers today and most software products work unmodified because of the 32-bit emulation technology in 64-bit Windows Vista (called WOW64). But there are some gaps, especially in the long tail of the market, but we expect rapid improvement now that 64-bit PCs are getting so popular."
There we have it, folks, Windows Vista 64-bit is now officially "ready". All we need now is Microsoft's own software such as Silverlight and various Live applications to support its 64-bit operating systems.
