By Oo Gin Lee

1 It runs 64-bit software and is still 32-bit compatible

Today, most software is written in 32-bit chunks, meaning that the data is processed 32 bits at a time. If the software is in 64-bit, it runs faster because the processor now handles the data in larger chunks.

It is like why I can finish a Filet-O-Fish burger in half the time that my seven-year-old daughter takes to do so: each bite takes in more.

For this to work, your processor, operating system (OS) and software must all be created for 64-bit computing.

The problem has been that the drivers (the software that lets your hardware talk to the OS) for older printers and other hardware might not support 64-bit Windows.

I remember trying out 64-bit Windows XP on my second-generation Acer Ferrari laptop five years ago and had to downgrade to 32-bit after two months.

The good news is that you can switch to 64-bit in Windows 7 with peace of mind. Its new Windows XP Mode (XPM) lets your install a copy of 32-bit Windows XP into a Windows 7 machine and run it in the background as a virtual OS.

You will need to switch to XPM to install the XP-friendly applications but what is really cool is that you can switch back to Windows 7 and run the applications in XPM right off the Windows 7 Start menu.

The bad news: XPM is not perfect.

I installed StarCraft, a 1998 game (pre-XP). It ran under Windows 7 but was not very stable. The screen froze for a few seconds every minute or so. I tried it in XPM but the game could not run as it required me to lower my monitor?s resolution to 640 x 480.

Unfortunately, XPM did not allow me to change the screen resolution so I could not go further.

This would not have been a problem on a true Windows XP computer.

Another problem with XPM is that your processor must be virtualisation-friendly. If you are using an AMD processor, this will not be much of an issue as almost all AMD processors made within the last few years, except for the entry-level Semprons, support virtualisation.

With Intel chips, you cannot tell right away if a particular processor enables virtualisation or not. You would have to go to http://processorfinder.intel.com to check.

Note also that Windows 7 Home Premium (the version pre-installed in most consumer PCs) does not support XPM. This, to me, is a real bummer as I do not think it is worth paying another $150 to upgrade to the Professional edition just for XPM.

2 It lets you stream content across different devices easily

Networking just got cooler with the Homegroup feature (right) in Windows 7. With it, you can easily connect multiple Windows 7 computers at home and share files, photos, music and videos among them.

Launch Windows Media Player (WMP) 12 and stream that Abba album in laptop A to laptop B in real time. You can share stuff not only among the PCs in the home network, but also other devices such as cellphones and game consoles.

This is because WMP 12 is the first WMP that is DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compliant. DLNA is an industry standard that consumer electronics makers are adopting to allow their devices to ?talk? to one another.

I hooked up a Thecus network attached storage (NAS) device, where I store all my photos, music and home videos, to my network. From my Windows 7 PC, I could immediately view all the files in the NAS through WMP 12.

I clicked on a song in the NAS and it played on my PC?s speakers. I connected my PlayStation 3 (PS3) to the same network and could immediately find the files on my NAS and my Windows 7 PC using the PS3.

And I could play the files directly from either device on the TV with the PS3 gamepad.

Before Windows 7, I could do the same thing between the NAS and the PS3 but streaming from a PC to the PS3 required an additional media streaming software called Tiversity.

Not anymore.

3 It supports next-gen PC games

I loathed Windows Vista not because it was slower than Windows XP but because it forced XP lovers like me to upgrade as Vista?s new Direct X10 game engine worked on only that OS.

However, most game makers continued to make games which worked with both DX9 and DX10 engines.

Microsoft has learnt its lesson and its freshly minted DX11 game engine will work on both Windows 7 and Vista, although not on XP.

Currently, only AMD?s ATI has DX11 graphics cards and the only game right now which takes advantage of this is Battleforge.

More DX11-friendly titles are in the works, such as Dirt 2, Stalker and Aliens vs Predator.

With mainstream graphics cards packing so much power, DX11 might replace the older DX9 as the de facto standard for realistic-looking games.

When that happens, gamers will have to say goodbye to XP.

ginlee@sph.com.sg

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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