Last time I posted that Vista x64 edition was substantially better than its 32-bit counterpart. For the most part, that's correct, but I spoke too soon. Vista, in any edition right now, is not a suitable operating system for a power user, meaning anyone who needs more from their computer than e-mail, web browsing, and basic operations.
I've made numerous postings as to why I think Vista isn't ready for us as a serious OS so I won't bother you with those details again, but essentially many of the problems that I experienced and overall sluggishness I felt while using Vista on my highest end hardware were still there with x64, it just took them longer to surface, and the 64-bit kernel made them a bit harder to notice at first.
When I switched back to XP though, I installed Windows XP Professional x64 edition. I've had this edition before, back when it had pitiful driver availability, but this time all of my hardware was supported, and I have yet to find one compatibility problem yet. I don't have to go out on too far a limb to say that Windows XP Professional x64 edition is by far the most stable, productive, and reliable operating system Microsoft made.
So when will I switch to Vista again? Not for quite some time. I'm not even sure that a service pack can fix some of the problems that just seem inherent with it. SP1 won't make the DRM issue go away, it won't reduce the ludicrous amount of versions of the operating system, and it won't fix the claustrophobic start menu that to me at least is less productive than the XP version.
The two recent hotfixes released meant to increase performance and fix some of the most annoying problems with Vista are being met with mixed reviews. Some say they see a difference, some can't tell they installed them. The newly discovered network performance drop while playing audio has prompted a quick rebuttal from Microsoft, claiming in part that it is designed behavior.
Needless to say, the situation with Vista is just plain messy right now, and I'm not sure when it will be straightened out. Until then, I'm running XP on my Windows machine, and will likely continue to do so for quite some time.
