The question is, in fact, whether there's any reason to use a 64-bit OS. Do you have even one application that requires the address space afforded by the x86_64 architecture?
If not, don't do it.
I keep seeing this advice given, but have yet to see a real reason for it. Java and Flash work on my 10.3, 11.0 and 11.1 64bit systems, so that's not an issue. I can watch and listen to a variety of media, so it's not that. I haven't noticed any difference in speed between 32bit and 64bit systems on the same hardware.
So, given that I don't have a problem yet you're saying not to do it, I'm really curious as to just what issue(s) you found while running a 64bit OS?
I was also one of the ones who said don´t do it. After following the recent discussions here, I decided to give it a try... and I have had zero problems. YAST is intelligent enough to handle sorting out the libraries as needed, and everything I´ve installed has simply worked. As for performance... I have noticed a few improvements here and there.. one in particular is that I am able to play online videos... eg YouTube full screen now with no lag or stuttering. The sole difference being I have a 64bit install now. I don´t know what the reason is behind the difference... but this one in particular is VERY visible. In my 32bit install any YouTube or similar video would play fine in its little confined window, but if I full screened it, the frame rate would drop to 1 or 2 fps. This happened even after recompiling my kernel for multimedia optimizations. After moving to 64bit, the exact same videos would play smooth at full screen even before recompiling my 64bitkernel. I cant speak for ATI since I avoid that video card as much as possible, but by nVidia drivers work perfectly as well. The nVidia binaries are 64bit aware, and automatically take care of 32bit mode compatibility. Gaming in Cedega or Wine is also fine... no issues at all. So... 64bit is a total success on my setup. I will be continuing to use it on all my computers going forward, and recommending it to the people I support/help out with Linux. C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org