jamin said:
64 bit does not equate faster or more performance over 32 bit.
In some cases 64 bit code is slower then 32 bit code.
Depends entirely on what you are doing, if you need 64 bit accuracy then the 64 bit processor will blow away the 32 bit every time. If otoh you only need 32 bit then 64 bit will not gain you much.
I recently tried out the 64 bit version of XP on my AMD-64 systems and it blows away the 32 bit version in everything it does so there is obviously some gain there. Similarly I downloaded the 64 bit version of Far Cry and it is awesome to behold so obviously games can make use of the extra bits, not only is it much faster but it can handle an order of magnitude more objects (for example when you go for a swim in the sea you are surrounded by a huge variety of fish, the 32 bit version doesn't do this).
The top 100 super computer systems will continue to be populated by 64 bit systems (mainly PowerPC) for a while to come, AMD are making inroads with the Opteron solutions but I expect the next year to be the year of the Cell processor. I expect the high end solutions (i.e the likes of Pixar) will start to be filled with bespoke Cell solutions rather than AMD or Intel, we may even see some really brave bods put together a 2000+ PS3 supercomputer system and challenge the dominance of the Power 5 systems at a fraction of the cost although we have yet to see what Power 6 will bring.
Apple have placed themselves in the position where they can continue to develop power apps for PPC & possibly Cell systems whilst at the same time being able to produce identical Intel coded apps for use on the low end, this is a good thing btw.
Amen-Moses