Win XP 64-Bit edition....the glory and the pain

[buttus]

Wow.

Not since upgrading Win 3.1 to Win 95 have I felt so conflicted about an OS. Although, in this case it's more the lack of support of the OS then Microsofts efforts that is the issue.

Admittedly, not many of us are running a 64 bit processor and therefore this may not be an issue for anyone...but those that might have something to input would be much apapreciated.

Here's the Glory:
Holy Cow, my puter is BLAZIN' fast now. I've had a Althon 64 3400+ processor for over a year now and I must say I am extremely pleased and impressed with the performance of the OS. It isn't often that once can see a noticable and tangible difference when it comes to processing speeds but in this case it is impossible NOT to notice.

Here's the pain:
Drivers, drivers, drivers. After my upgrade and updates were all done, my HP Deskjet 5550 Printer would not work, my Logitech Quickcam express would not work, my D-Link USB wireless adapter would not work. The issue as it would appear to be is that even with 6 years or more leadtime on the emergence of the 64bit OS, that most manufacturers in the marketplace have still failed to yield proper driver support.

I can understand this being an issue for some of the smaller manufacturers out there but c'mon. Look at those names. HP, Logitech, Dlink....big names and yet a fundamental lack of drivers.

HP has a workaround for the printer (at sub par performance).
Logitech has no 64 bit drivers for any of their webcams (but Creative has a couple of models which are supported so it looks as if I will have to buy a new webcam).
Dlink has very limited 64 bit drivers (mainly Beta's in Taiwan) but for only a few select models (and of course my newest latest greatest fastest ISN'T one of those lucky few).

I'd like to know everyones thoughts about the OS, what problems they have encountered, if there were any good driver resources they have found etc....

I'll say this though. The OS is fast, stable and frankly a breath of fresh air. Now if we can only get past these small obstacles then the future is promising indeed.

 

[Uzhul]

I know exactly what you mean. The OS is frankly superb, and absolutely blazin' but the lack of drivers is annoying. Especially when you're trying to set up a wireless network to connect to the internet because family say no cables trailing the house, and no wireless recievers have 64-bit drivers. If anyone can get the Belkin F5D7050uk to work, please tell me!

 

[iss]

The simple fact fo the matter si that even large companies are not going to release 64 bit drivers and 64 bit compaitable software for their products just because they have the capability to do so.

Companies dont much care about the "cool" factor of having a 64 bit OS. they respond to consumer demand and the possibility of profits. until they see consumers gravitating to 64bit Hardware and OS's they arent going to spend much time money or resources developing 64 bit drivers and software.

that time will come somethime after the release of Vista, but I doubt it will be any sooner.

 

[buttus]

I would agree. Manufacturers certainly do and will go to where the money is. On the consumer side the Althon 64 is only now gaining speed in pure numbers purchased and I do understand the cost analysis needed to justify the development of a 64-bit driver.

However.

Since when did all of IT have to do with something being profitable?

I can't even begin to think of the companies that have developed and pushed products out the door just for the perception of being on the bleeding edge? Sometimes the prestigue matters more for the manufacturers reputation and marketing campaigns then anything else. ie X-Box. Microsoft looses money big time when each of these units are sold. However, they pushed it forward to at least appear on the bleeding edge of technology.

But I digress.

All I can say that even as a consumer the lack of driver support for XP 64 is most dissapointing. My opinion of companies such as Dlink, Logitech and even HP has diminished. After all, some other much smaller companies have come forward and developed drivers for their hardware so why can't a much larger company?

 

[p05ta1]

I loved the 64bit os but with the lack of support for even the intelli mouse from MS I went back to winxp pro 32bit.

 

[lewekleonek]

I've had to jump through the hoops to get a cheap laser printer that works with Windows XP 64-bit. Eventually got one - Brother HL2040. I got home;connected the printer to the PC. Guess what, no built-in drivers for it. Manufacturer site sucked so badly - I was not able to download 64-bit driver - all sorts of web errors. Then I've figured out they must have a site in Germany. www.brother.de had drivers available. Kudos go to Brother Germany!
Forget HP and Lexmar as well as Dell - they don't give a flying hoot about WinXP x64.
Thought I'd share this story to save you trouble.
BTW: HP instructions on how to get their 1020 laser to work with other drivers are useless.

 

[buttus]

It is amazing what some of the manufacturers expect you to do to get THEIR hardware working.

For example, here is a link to a workaround that HP has posted:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lang=en&lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00365046

For once I am not going to bash Microsoft for their OS. XP 64 has been rock solid and stable and with the emergence of Vista on the horizon, there isn't much of an excuse as to why 64 bit drivers are unavailable. It's not as if the manufacturers were not aware of the 64 bit OS.