[Mike Rivers]

On Feb 8, 9:59 pm, wrote:

I'm in the market for a new computer with Vista. I can't for the life
of me figure out if the Intel Core 2 Duo is a true 64 bit processor, a
fake one, or nothing at all to do with 32 bit.

I see nobody has answered the question. The Core 2 Duo is one that's
been described as "Vista ready" whatever that means.

I agree that eventually Vista will be the only Windows you can get
(until the next great operating system comes along) but I also agree
that it would be a good idea to hold off setting up a Vista-based
audio system for another several months, or maybe a year. Can you
continue to use what you have?

Or are you willing to install XP on a new Vista-ready machine now and
upgrade it to Vista when the need becomes apparent? That would be the
smartest thing, I think, if you're going to put together a new
computer now anyway. But if you can wait to buy the computer until you
really need it (and Vista), things will only get cheaper.

Any thoughts on audio software evolving into 64 bit architectures?

So far it seems that Cakewalk/Sonar is leading the pack. Either you
like it or you don't, but because it's there wouldn't be enough to
sell me on new hardware and software if what I had now was working
fine.

That would probably kill the argument that you need to go analog to
mix due to summing issues.

Only if it's well implemented. But then people seem to be satisfied
with present 32-bit systems when they get the right software and set
it up properly. Those who use external analog mixing do it for one of
three reasons:

1. They like the comfort or a real mixer
2. They're behind the times and still believe that computers can't
satisfactorily mix audio.
3. Their system is behind times and really benefits from analog mixing
in some respects.

And then there are different versions of Vista. Supossedly, only the
"ultimate super premium" edition is true 64 bit.

This is still confusing. At this point, if you really want to know
what it does, I wouldn't trust what anybody tells you, because there
are probably different ways of interpreting "true 64 bit."