64-bit and Snow Leopard – What 64-bit means for you

cwa107


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What's funny is that this would probably be a non-issue for 99% of the computer using population had the video game market never promoted their consoles by labeling them "16-bit", "32-bit", etc.

People automatically assume that when you increase the memory address space, the system is instantly an order of magnitude more powerful. And that would be true when we were talking about 8-bit and 16-bit, less so with 16-bit vs. 32-bit, and almost irrelevant in 32-bit vs. 64-bit (at least at this stage in the game). When software starts needing to address more than 4GB of RAM at a time, it will be a different story.
 
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Very cool thread, thanks for the info!
 
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I did find a problem with the Drobo and booting 64 bit. The dashboard will not run. The system sees a usb disk, but the Drobo software is not running. Booting to the 32 bit kernel and the Drobo is happy. Sad part is I had coded the boot, to boot the 64 bit kernel. So when the system boots I have to hold down 3 2. I can't find the command to switch it back to only boot the 32 bit kernel. I guess I will keep looking.
 
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How did you set it to default into the 64-bit kernel? It's very possible that you can "undo" what you did.
 
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How did you set it to default into the 64-bit kernel? It's very possible that you can "undo" what you did.

I am sure that I can, I just need to find the command that I set it with.

I did find it, it is a sudo nvram command. sudo nvram boot-args="arch=x86_64" I replaced the 64 with 32
 
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VM Fusion and 64 bit

VM Fusion, version 3 says:

"VMware Fusion 3 offers full support for Windows 7 and Snow Leopard, with a 64-bit optimized engine to deliver even faster performance and advanced 3D graphics for the ultimate Windows experience on the Mac."
 
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i have a macbook pro 1,1 intel duo core with 2gig ram 2ghz. should i upgrade?
 

cwa107


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i have a macbook pro 1,1 intel duo core with 2gig ram 2ghz. should i upgrade?

You can, but I wouldn't expect a huge increase in performance. Are you using Leopard (10.5) currently?
 
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no i'm not. i'm still on tiger currently 10.4.11
 

cwa107


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no i'm not. i'm still on tiger currently 10.4.11

Then you will stand to gain quite a few new features and the upgrade will be worth it (in my view). However, since you failed to upgrade to Leopard, you'll need to purchase The Mac Boxed Set, which is quite a bit more expensive than Snow Leopard alone.
 
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so even with my current specs, the snow leopard will be running fine?
 

cwa107


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so even with my current specs, the snow leopard will be running fine?

Yes, just don't expect to see the kind of performance improvement you might if you had a 64-bit CPU.
 
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i found an article that says i can upgrade to snow leopard from a lot less, like 140 dollars less - LINK should i go this route?
 

cwa107


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i found an article that says i can upgrade to snow leopard from a lot less, like 140 dollars less - LINK should i go this route?

You can, but it's not advised.

You would have to do a clean install (i.e. backup and format your HDD). Also, since you likely have iLife '06, you'll find that some of the suite (iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, etc) will not function properly.

And of course, since it's not the method Apple wants you to go through, you will receive absolutely no support from them.
 
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would it be better just to update to leopard then?
 

cwa107


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would it be better just to update to leopard then?

Leopard is no longer for sale by Apple. When it was, it was $129. The Mac Boxed Set is $169. So, for the extra $40, you're getting iLife '09 (with a ton of new features) and iWork '09, both of which would normally set you back about $160 by themselves. All in all, it's a pretty good deal - and since you haven't upgraded your computer in some time, it will be like getting a new machine.
 
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LINK is this the box set i should get to get me to snow leopard?
 

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Yep, that's the one.
 
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the system requirements says mac os x 10.5 leopard... kinda confused.
 

cwa107


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Not sure why that's listed in the requirements, but I am quoting Apple on this:

Apple - Mac OS X Snow Leopard - Technical specifications

2010-01-19_1522.png
 

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