AMD 64 Bit Processor Info Wanted

[Scott]

David M. Carney wrote:
> Ahh, the time has finally come to consider replacing my Athlon XP 2100+ with 
> 512 megs ram.
> 
> I'm thinking about getting a Athlon 64 bit system.
> 
> So I want to know:
> 
> 1. How is 64 bit Ubuntu?

To be honest, not noticeably different than 32-bit Ubuntu.  I don't 
blame Ubuntu though. The same scenario is true in other distros as well.

> 
> 2. Will I have to recompile apps to get full 64 bit functionality?

In a few limited cases yes.  There are apps I've found I wanted that a) 
aren't in any Ubuntu repository and b) are only available in i386 versions.

> 3. Are there apps that won't work??

A few, but not many, but just enough to be inconvenient.   For example, 
there are no 64-bit Macromedia Flash or Sun Java plugins for Firefox.

> 
> Pros and cons viewpoints from 64 bit users would be especially appreciated.

I gave up and switched back to i386 Linux, because I got tired of 
finding apps I wanted that were only complied for i386.  The Firefox 
situation was also an annoyance.

I made a similar inquiry about this myself a few months back and was 
told that the "performance hit" for an ordinary user switching from 64 
to 32-bit Linux was negligible.

Based on my experience, that is indeed correct.


-- 
Scott,  running 32-bit Breezy with an AMD Athlon 64 3500+ CPU
www.angrykeyboarder.com
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