the short analogy is that between 64-bit v. 32-bit, think of 64-bit processors as the "more efficient" engine that burns fuel better than good old 32-bit. it makes great economic sense to go with the newer technology, (64-bit and dual core) because sooner or later software is going to catch up with the hardware and you'd still be good now as you would going into the future, mostly anyway.
the longer answer is that most apps that juan dela cruz and maria clara would use like web browsers aren't 64-bit, not yet anyway. in macverse, OS X 10.5 has most apps and most of its underlying stuff in 64-bit but OS X 10.5's kernel is still 32-bit to maintain compatibility with existing drivers. in linuxverse, we're still waiting for adobe to come out with a 64-bit flash plugin for firefox, likewise for sun's java. hence, quite a few distros use both lib32 and lib64 and that most distros use 32-bit firefox, which isn't saying anything bad about it being 32-bit. so, unless you're into the huge media-content creating universe or want to be, getting a 64-bit box and huge (greater than 4gb) ram makes little economic or logical sense. these days really, a more "balanced" system--- i.e. average (1.8ghz) processor clock speed, at least 1 to 2gb RAM, 160GB (at least) sata hard drive and decent graphics card is i think what "normal" people should care about. it'll stop people from complaining "my computer is slow because my cpu is slow," most especially when they're running windows. of course it is--- if you're spending more ram than you have right? maybe people will start to think that computers are a "system". all the wheels got to turn right and on time to make everything work great. Given the economic value of 64-bit processors are at par now with 32-bit ones and given the combination of memory, board specs (i.e. pci v. agp), would you pay for a 32-bit machine or a 64-bit machine that'll have a higher chance of upgradability going into the future? of course 32-bit now isn't saying it'll cease to be useful--- it'll still be useful 3 years down the road but less so if you go 64-bit now. all i'm saying It makes great sense to go 64-bit processor (and dual core) now especially, with an eye towards great system balance. For good or ill the 64-bit processor is just progress! it is the same way gasoline powered engines are slowly being replaced by more efficient ones and maybe someday a hybrid engine. -- Cocoy "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware" -- Alan Kay
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