New Gaming PC W/windows7 32bit .Should I have gone 64???

LOL on that one Thrax.
Perhaps the transition of Apple could be a guide. Make a full 64 bit OS, totally incompatible with 32 bit over the course of a few updates. Run the legacy programs in emulation. This can be done fairly painlessly, and probably will be done by Microsoft.

Gates quote may apply here
"Pioneers get the arrows, settlers get the land"

I personally believe Microsoft can move forward and leave no one in the cold. I get tons of newsletters from Microsoft, and they're pushing the hell out of virtualization. It does work, too. Microsoft has even bent over as far as not requiring the hardware deal in order to obtain XP Mode. I have it, my printer and camera runs fine with it. Many of those with expensive Canon printers/scanners that have no 64 bit drivers can run them with this program. All that's necessary is to have Pro installed to get XP Mode. Windows 7 will be here for quite some time, so there's no excuses for businesses not to move forward. On many business computers that was made in the last five to six years, an upgrade video card will solve a lot of problems. And as I've said earlier, there's billions of dollars of computers stored in storage trailers, waiting to be purchased for a third of the cost of new ones. Many are less than two years old. And XP Mode will be supported until April, 2014, and will easily run another year or two beyond that. What about the many businesses that are still on Win 2K or Win 2003 servers? Who bent over backwards this far for them? Come July or August, they'll be left hanging. No Win 2K mode for them.

As I said:
But I object to this attitude:
Because comparing the direction of Windows to Mac is disingenuous, as Apple simply cut off all their 32-bit users and told them to upgrade or take a hike. Microsoft cannot do this with Windows, as much as all of us wish they could.

I agree with you, Thrax. No Windows customer should be told to take a hike. That's the whole point I was making. If you subscribe to a few of Microsoft's weekly newsletters, you'll see what I mean. Virtualization is being pushed as hard as can be, I mean every newsletter that I receive has an article on it. Even Win 2K and 2003 Server will run with it. The hardware requirement has been dropped for Windows 7 Pro & above to run XP Mode. Dual booting has almost gone the way of the dinosauers because of VM's. My comparing with Apple was simply suggesting that 64 bit can be reality, not to kick anyone to the curb. I still have a 32 bit laptop myself that should last a couple or more years. I have three VM's installed on it. This is the way for everyone to get over the hump. And no doubt, there will be one, that's why Microsoft is working hard to get the word out to virtualize. A child can do it, if they can follow simple instructions. And it is truly simple. 32 bit computers as we've known them for the last ten or so years, are going to fall by the wayside, regardless of what who wants. The same way as 16 bit did. XP Mode will be supported as long as the regularly installed XP is. Four years, plus at least two more, as long as the customer runs a good AV, and has a couple of good backups. In that amount of time, who couldn't upgrade? There will be plenty of pre-owned Windows 7 PC's available for low prices by then. No one will be kicked to the curb over true 64 bit Windows computers.

This would be an assumption based on personal preference. Dual Booting will always have an advantage over VM's when it comes to 100% system resources.

I could only imagine that the newsletters you are referring too are old news to thrax.

c_c, I agree with you on the dual booting issue. No VM that I've had can match the performance of a regular install. Simply because of what you stated, system resources. You can only assign so much RAM to a VM. I have a tri-boot and a dual boot. But for whatever reason, in the tech articles, and I read many of them from all over the net, virtualizing is the hottest thing going. You seldom read anything about dual booting anymore. It, too can be an excellent solution to upgrade, most of us that has owned a computer has or is currently doing it. Why it's not being suggested as a viable way to move forward, I don't know. It would be better than VM's, but the idea is not being pushed, for whatever reason.

catilley the thing you should realize is that those writers probably have super computers with the power to push a VM. The VM's are also a new thing to write about so naturally it would be the most written about.