Support Vista-64 or Die

December 19, 2007

Choosing a new software vendor can be a daunting task. Is the product as good as advertised? Is it reliable? Is it worth your money? Will the vendor be around in a few years?

If you’re having trouble separating the wheat from the chaff, there’s one good question to ask:

“Do you support 64-bit Microsoft Vista?”

If the answer is no, you’re probably not dealing with a serious player.

64-bit processors have been around more than 5 years, and there’s a good chance that you have one in the computer you’re reading this on, even though you’re most likely running a 32-bit operating system. There are a few reasons that the 64-bit version of Windows XP never really caught on, most notably because the major benefit of moving to a 64-bit operating system is the amount of RAM it can access. Back when I built my Windows XP desktop several years ago, 2 GB of RAM was more than I needed, and it was expensive. But today RAM is cheap: 4 GB of DDR2 memory is about $150. Window XP, like any 32-bit operating system, can address a maximum of 4 GB of memory, but if you install it you’ll find that you only have about 3GB of memory for applications. 64-bit operating systems, on the other hand, can use as much memory as you can get onto your motherboard.

Realistically, if you only use your PC for the web, word-processing, and email, 2 GB memory is enough, even with Vista. However, if you like to play games, edit video from your camcorder, or do a lot of digital photography, the extra few bucks to move up to 4 GB is worthwhile. And, as memory prices continue to drop, more of us will be loading up machines with 8 to 16 GB memory within a few years. A few years ago, 64-bit was the cutting edge, but today it’s going mainstream, and software vendors who don’t support 64-bit Vista are declaring themselves dinosaurs.

For most software manufacturers, supporting Vista 64 is quite simple because properly written 32-bit applications run fine. So when you read, “We don’t support 64-bit Vista”, what most are really saying is that they won’t invest the time to test their application on it. Device drivers are a different story, but assuming that proper development practices have been followed, moving a device driver from 32-bit to 64-bit is not that difficult.

These vendors are playing a numbers game, assuming that most of their customers won’t care. And, a few years ago, the vast majority didn’t, and those who wanted to couldn’t, creating a classic chicken-and-egg scenario. But times are changing, and those vendors who think they can get away without supporting 64-bit Vista are in for a nasty surprise as 64-bit moves toward achieving a critical mass.

I recently found a good example: Digidesign (owned by Avid), is a well-known player in semi-professional audio recording. You’d think that anyone working in that space would want a high-end machine with lots of RAM. However, not only does Digidesign not support 64-bit Vista, they even have an article instructing customers on how to build a dual-boot machine. I’ll give them credit for helping customers with old software, and for having the balls to suggest that customers install XP on their Vista machine so they can use them. However, two of their major competitors, PreSonus and Cakewalk support 64-bit Vista, so it’s only a matter of time until Digidesign starts losing market share.

There are plenty of other examples out there, and I’ll try to post them as they come along. In the meantime, the message to software vendors needs to be clear: Support Vista-64 or die.

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