Hello, I ran Vista x86 for a while on my T43p, but went back to XP on it after I upgraded to a T61p. It ran Vista x64, then Windows 7 x64. I cannot say I had any major problems with either installation; I believe I did have to hunt down a few drivers from various chip manufacturers at first because they were not yet available through the ThinkVantage System Update program.
I actually use VMware Workstation to host a Windows XP environment. But, except to test software for compatibility with that OS, I rarely use the VM. Windows Vista brought 64-bit versions of Windows to the masses, so to speak, and software vendors seem to have been very good about 64-bit support in the last four years or so. If you run something which only works with XP, you can try the compatibility options, XP Mode, a VM, or even dual-booting, if it comes down to that. For me, the decision was very easy because (1) all the software I run is either native 64-bit, or 32-bit that work fine under a 64-bit OS; (2) maxing out an older ThinkPad's RAM was cheap enough that it didn't break the piggy bank; and (3) I like to play with new technology, so it was not a problem for me to go the 64-bit route. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky At 10:00 AM 7/1/2011, you wrote:
Message: 7 Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 09:40:00 -0400 From: Scott Matthews <[email protected]> Subject: [Thinkpad] 32bit Win7 vs. 64bit + XP Mode on somewhat older Thinkpads To: Jim Schneider <[email protected]> Cc: thinkpad list <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Thanks again to all for helping me think through an upgrade plan. A few of you indicated that you're running 32bit Win7 on your somewhat older Thinkpads. I'm curious if you also considered running 64bit Win7 with XP Mode -- ie, to get the benefits of more RAM plus retaining the fallback option to XP when necessary. Presumably older Thinkpads lack virtualization support in in the CPU, but would XP Mode not still work, even if somewhat slower? It seems one option is to get 32bit Win7, and remain limited to at most 3GB RAM -- and the other is to get 64bit Win7, bump up the RAM, and also install XP Mode. Curious to know how other folks with few-years-old Thinkpads approached this decision.
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