Why run 64-bit Windows?

Am sure by now majority of the platforms are and considering moving on to 64-bit platforms. If you aren’t yet sure of why’s – boy, you really are planning for a retirement, aren’t you !? No, its not mandated, but if scalability, vendor supportability and performance bothers you, then better think about it.

Now, there’s no point in re-writing what more experienced people have already summarized in way more details. But, here’s the reference for your considerations:

- Why run 64-bit Windows?

- Why run 64-bit Linux?

Now, amidst x86 and 64-bit decision, Itanium yet remains a question mark? HP and Intel have committed that they will continue to develop on it. But they dont seem to be showing anything promising beyond next planned version. Couple of Database Vendors (Oracle, Microsoft) have called out for Itanium phase-out already. Though others (IBM DB2, PostgreSQL, Sybase) are absorbing this as an opportunity to increase their footprint. If you ask me, I never liked IA platform much. Not that its bad anyhow, but it broke the most crucial backward compatibility. That’s a big no-no when you talk of Enterprise platforms. And that proved to be one reason that Industry was slow to get along with this Intel-HP development. Specifically, given today’s situation, it would be wise to look at what your data-vendor is supporting and what goes well within your existing/planned server farm.