The most News right now about Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit is about compatibility. People are publishing their experiences with Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit in their blogs and the most interesting News is that most of them have many problems with Windows Vista 64 bit. In this article I am going to show my own experience and my Windows Vista x64 review.

Let’s look back into the Microsoft´s history. Microsoft Windows is the trademark for several families of software like Windows Operation System and Microsoft office by Microsoft. Microsoft started the new era with the first Operation System called Windows on November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS. The first IBM computers with Windows 1.0 were the biggest revolution at that time.

The first stable Operation System was Windows NT and right now, Microsoft Windows Vista is a continuation of the NT line of products and it is not something completely new. That is the reason why Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit has an excellent compatibility with hardware and software. But still it is not %100 compatible.

If you are not ready with your hardware for a big upgrade to the Windows Vista 64-bit then you could have some nasty surprises. But still Windows Vista 64-bit is offering good hardware compatibility than you can imagine. There are many applications what won´t work under Windows Vista x64.

The first question about Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit is the hardware compatibility. Many people are asking:

Which hardware is compatible with Windows Vista 64 bit?

What I personally like by Windows Computers, you can always add and update your hardware. You can go just to the store or online like eBay and order your brand new hardware what you can add into your computer to make it compatible with any Windows. With Mac unfortunately you are never able to do that. If you want a new hardware then you have to buy a new Apple computer and it is very expensive for a update.

When Microsoft shipped the first NT Operation system the listed a big list of compatible hardware called HCL. You were able to find out what you need for your new NT operation system. But unfortunately Microsoft did not list any special list like NT HCL that we can exactly know what works and what does not.

Microsoft is saying that Windows Vista x64 is much more compatible with hardware than any other Microsoft Windows before.

It is recommended to have a x64 compatible processor. If you do not have a x64 processor then you can never run Vista 64-bit on your computer.

I have tested my Windows Vista 64-bit on a brand new and a 4 years old computer. Here is the hardware list of two totally different computers.

Brand New HP computer

1-    Genuine Intel® CPU 2140 Dual Core with 1.60 GHz (x64 compatible)

2-    2046 MB DDR2 667 MHz

3-    Asus Motherboard

4-    ATI x800 Radeon with 256 MB DDR2 RAM

4 years old computer

1-    AMD Opteron x64 with 1.81 GHz (Single core)

2-    1024 MB DDR2 533 MHz

3-    Asus Motherboard

4-    ATI x700 Radeon with 128 MB RAM

I have gotten a driver DVD with my brand new HP computer and installation took 23 minutes without any issues. After I register myself as a new user after Windows Vista 64-bit installation, I do not have any driver’s problems. Everything is running fine and I can connect to the internet to register and activate my Windows Vista 64-bit.

But with the older computer I have gotten the first problems during installation. I have gotten many times driver error and Windows installation was not able to continue with installation. I had to add some drivers for DVD player, Hard Drives and some other problems on my motherboard. Anyway I needed 4.5 hours to complete my Windows Vista x64 installation on my older computer.

But the problems have started after I was finished with installation. I was not able to use my network-card to go to internet. I had to buy a brand new network-card at Best Buy. It took me 2 more hours to get running my Windows Vista 64-bit on my 4 years old computer.

After all I was able to see which system is more reliable, stable, and faster. I figure it out that my Windows Vista x64 is running faster on the new computer. And with my older computer I have gotten many times blue screen what nobody like that. But after I turned off the high-end Aero user interface in my old computer, it was like a wonder. I never got any more any blue screen and computer was so fast I never could imagine.

After that I realized that the Microsoft high-end Aero user interface block computer performance around %56 and it is a big number. That means Microsoft has to realize that the Windows users want a better functional operation system what brings more security to your computer and not a glass Aero user interface.

This was good News but I got more bad News. My HP scanner, HP printer, webcam and router never worked on any of computers because the companies never published any 64-bit drivers for those devices. I am still sad but I had to move on and I bought new printer, scanner, and router that I could use my LAN.

After all I can say that upgrade to Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit could be very expensive for you. If you do not have that money, I recommend you should wait few months till hardware is cheaper that right now.

I could run finally my iTunes on both computers. You can read about Windows Vista x64 (64-bit), iTunes and iPod in my other article.

Here is another list of hardware I should let you know about compatible hardware:

a-    TV Tuner Hardware is working under Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

b-    Microsoft Zune is running fine under Microsoft Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

c-    iPod is working fine under Windows Vista x64 (64-bit) after iTunes update

d-    Sound-Cards are fine under Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

e-    Every monitor works good under Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

f-    Most of graphic devices from ATI and Nvidia are working fine under Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

g-    My iPhone is working fine under Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

The next important question is:

Which software is compatible with Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)?

In this part of my article I would like to tell you about compatibility of the most common software on the market, what I usually use for my own private uses.

-      Adobe Photoshop works well under Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Adobe Dreamweaver does not have any issue with Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Adobe Fireworks is fine with Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Adobe Acrobat Professional works very good under Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Winamp has not problem with Vista x64 (64-bit) when you install the latest free version

-      iTunes from Apple works fine after update (You can read more about iTunes and Vista 64-bit)

-      I have still problems with Apple´s QuickTime under Vista x64 (64-bit). It could be because of my QuickTime alternative software

-      Norton Internet Security 360 works fine but I recommend the Symantec Endpoint Protection for your internet security

-      Smart FTP works fine with Vista x64 (64-bit). Good News for webmasters ;-)

-      Google Picasa2 works ok with Vista x64 (64-bit) but the Aero user interface does not work. I think Google does not want to update his favorite photo software

-      Microsoft Office is working with Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Nero the favorite CD-Burning application is working under Vista x64 (64-bit), but only the version 8.

-      Skype is working with Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Yahoo Messenger works with Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      All SlySoft products are working with Vista x64 (64-bit). Like CloneCD, CloneDVD, and AnyDVD

-      ACDSee works with Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Roxio Multimedia producer is working without any problem with Vista x64 (64-bit)

-      Zune applications are working under Vista x64 (64-bit)

I hope I could show you if it is the right time for the biggest update for your Microsoft Windows Operation system to Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit (x64). I recommend if you have money you should buy a new computer with a 64-bit compatible CPU (processor) and run Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate edition because it is the most secure operation system ever.