The Road to 64-bit

At Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference two year’s ago, Steve Jobs took to the stage with his usual command and made the claim—one among many—that 64-bit had gone mainstream. From his point of view, it was a fete accompli, since Apple operating systems had been 64-bit for about four years at that point. Anyone running Linux has had 64-bit for twice as long. Microsoft offers 64-bit versions of Windows XP Pro and Vista Ultimate. So has it finally arrived?

Yes, according to Sony Creative Software and Adobe, who both have put plenty of R+D into creating editing apps that draw efficiently and powerfully on full 64-bit power. In this issue of Studio/monthly, Charlie White reviews Sony Vegas Pro 9, and Adobe’s Giles Baker explores the reasons why—and how—you might upgrade to a 64-bit system inexpensively to get more out of your existing apps like Premiere Pro CS4. Of course, Steve Jobs hopes you’ll run out and buy one of his new workstations installed with Mac OS X Snow Leopard later this fall. And there are plenty of terrific new 64-bit systems from HP and others ready for the taking. But wouldn’t you rather add a little memory or simply upgrade your OS, and just get back to work?