I've been running a 64 Bit processor and operating system for well over a year. I think most people don't want to spend the money required to move away from a 32 Bit OS. Those Dell fanatics who want ever cheaper garbage computers will settle for 32 bit processing power. But, Most people who own 64 bit processors don't realize it. And, they will never realize the speed because they don't use a 64 bit OS. It's a bit like buying a Porsche and filling the tank with bargain basement gas. It will run but it will not perform. 64 bit processors are capable of addressing an astronomical 18 billion GB, or 18 exabytes, of memory, 64-bit integers also accelerate complex mathematical calculations through their ability to perform calculations directly on 64-bit numbers, as well as performing multiple operations on smaller numbers within a single CPU cycle. A 32 Bit operating system will limit that processor speed. The fact is that most modern processors support 64 bit functions so the braggarts are the ones who have realized this and shifted into a 64 bit OS.
The time line of 64 Bit processors is;
* 1961: IBM delivered the IBM 7030 Stretch supercomputer. This used 64-bit data words and 32 or 64-bit instruction words.
* 1974: Control Data Corporation launched the CDC Star-100 vector supercomputer, which used a 64-bit word architecture (previous CDC systems were based on a 60-bit architecture).
* 1976: Cray Research delivered the first Cray-1 supercomputer. This was based on a 64-bit word architecture, which formed the basis for later Cray vector supercomputers.
* 1983: Elxsi launched the Elxsi 6400 parallel minisupercomputer. The Elxsi architecture had 64-bit data registers but a 32-bit address space.
* 1991: MIPS Technologies produced the first 64-bit microprocessor, as the third revision of their MIPS RISC architecture, the R4000. The CPU was used in SGI graphics workstations starting with the IRIS Crimson. However, 64-bit support for the R4000 was not included in the IRIX operating system until IRIX 6.2, released in 1996.
* 1992: Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) introduced the pure 64-bit Alpha architecture which was born from the PRISM project.
* 1993: DEC released the 64-bit OSF/1 AXP Unix-like operating system (later renamed Tru64 UNIX) and the OpenVMS operating system for Alpha systems.
* 1994: Intel announced plans for the 64-bit IA-64 architecture (jointly developed with HP) as a successor to its 32-bit IA-32 processors. A 1998–1999 launch date was targeted. SGI released IRIX 6.0, with 64-bit support for R8000 CPUs.
* 1995: Sun launched a 64-bit SPARC processor, the UltraSPARC. Fujitsu-owned HAL Computer Systems launched workstations based on a 64-bit CPU, HAL's independently designed first generation SPARC64. IBM released 64-bit AS/400 systems, with the upgrade able to convert the operating system, database and applications. DEC released OpenVMS Alpha 7.0, the first full 64-bit version of OpenVMS for Alpha.
* 1996: HP released an implementation of the 64-bit 2.0 version of their PA-RISC processor architecture, the PA-8000. Nintendo introduces the Nintendo 64 video game console, built around a low-cost variant of the MIPS R4000.
* 1997: IBM released their RS64 full 64-bit PowerPC processors.
* 1998: IBM released their POWER3 full 64-bit PowerPC/POWER processors. Sun released Solaris 7, with full 64-bit UltraSPARC support.
* 1999: Intel released the instruction set for the IA-64 architecture. First public disclosure of AMD's set of 64-bit extensions to IA-32, called x86-64 (later renamed AMD64).
* 2000: IBM shipped its first 64-bit mainframe, the zSeries z900, and its new z/OS operating system — culminating history's biggest 64-bit processor development investment and instantly wiping out 31-bit plug-compatible competitors Fujitsu/Amdahl and Hitachi. 64-bit Linux on zSeries followed almost immediately.
* 2001: Intel finally shipped its 64-bit processor line, now branded Itanium, targeting high-end servers. It fails to meet expectations due to the repeated delays getting IA-64 to market, and becomes a flop. Linux was the first operating system to run on the processor at its release.
* 2002: Intel introduced the Itanium 2 as a successor to the Itanium.
* 2003: AMD brought out its AMD64-architecture Opteron and Athlon 64 processor lines. Apple also shipped 64-bit "G5" PowerPC 970 CPUs courtesy of IBM, along with an update to its Mac OS X operating system, that added partial support for 64-bit mode. Several Linux distributions released with support for AMD64. Microsoft announced that it would create a version of its Windows operating system for these AMD chips. Intel maintained that its Itanium chips would remain its only 64-bit processors.
* 2004: Intel, reacting to the market success of AMD, admitted it had been developing a clone of the AMD64 extensions, which it calls IA-32e and later renames EM64T. Updated versions of its Xeon and Pentium 4 processor families supporting the new instructions were shipped. Freescale announces the 64-bit e700 core, successor to their PowerPC G4 series.
* 2004: VIA Technologies announced the Isaiah 64-bit processor. [1]
* 2005: On January 31, Sun released Solaris 10 with support for AMD64 and EM64T processors. In March, Intel announced that their first dual-core EM64T processors will ship in the second quarter 2005 with the release of the Pentium Extreme Edition 840 and the new Pentium D chips. On April 30, Microsoft publicly released Windows XP Professional x64 Edition for AMD64 and EM64T processors. In May, AMD introduced its first dual-core AMD64 Opteron server CPUs and announced its desktop version, called Athlon 64 X2. The original Athlon 64 X2 (Toledo) processors featured two cores with 1 MiB of L2 cache memory per core and consisted of about 233.2 million transistors. They were 199 mm² large. In July, IBM announced its new dual-core 64-bit PowerPC 970MP (codenamed Antares) used by IBM and Apple. Microsoft releases the Xbox 360 game console which use the 64-bit PowerPC Xenon manufactured by IBM.
* 2006: Dual-core Montecito Itanium 2 processors in production. Sony, IBM, and Toshiba begin manufacturing of the 64-bit Cell processor for use in the PlayStation 3, servers, workstations, and other appliances. Apple, Inc. features 64-bit EM64T Xeon processors in their new Mac Pro and Intel Xserve computers, and later updates the iMac, MacBook and MacBook Pro to use EM64T Core 2 processors.
So Think of your Operating System, not your processor.
Good Luck