Running 64-bit OSes on Athlon 64?

M

multmin

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Dear All Athlon 64 users,

I am looking for someone (anyone) who is using a 64-bit OS other than a Windows flavor (no Win 64 beta, in other words) and their experiences with it. I am planning on building an Athlon 64-based PC and would like to use a 64-bit OS specifically geared toward the AMD64 (such as Turbolinux, SuSE, Mandrake 9.2, etc), but I would like to know if there is anything I should know before jumping into it. Move this topic as needed. Thank you for your comments!

multmin
 
This is the correct place.
And welcome to NTFS Multimin!
Enjoy you're day :)
 
Thanks, Vipersnake. Glad to be here - been a lurker for awhile, but only starting to post now.

Going through the net, it seems that some of the supposed 64-bit OSes, like Redhat Enterprise and SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, are expensive, and I would most certainly be using this computer at home (not as a workstation or server). I was thinking of using either SuSE 9.0 for AMD64 or a downloadable ISO (probably Mandrake 9.2). The shots I've seen of SuSE make it seem very user friendly. I would be new to Linux, which makes me somewhat hesitant to try the ISOs. However, I am assuming some or all of these ISOs (like Mandrake, Debian, Gentoo) are free? Plus, what makes these new OSes truly "for" the AMD64? Do they utilize 64-bit drivers, the chip's architecture, or what exactly?

Unfortunately, I use Windows for most of my work, as I have to do musical notation with Finale. I've read of others trying to get Finale to work on Linux systems (through Wine), but I'll probably have a dual-boot system in the end.

My concerns with using Linux OSes would be 1) finding all the drivers (which sounds like a large and constant problem), and 2) software compatibility. Wine sounds like a hit-or-miss thing. I guess with the dual-boot I wouldn't have to worry - just run whatever I need on whatever works.

If anyone is already using any 64-bit OS on their Athlon 64 or FX, just keep the comments coming.
 
What makes them for the AMD64 is that they are compiled for AMD's 64-bit architecture.

If you are choosing between Suse and Mandrake I would lean towards Suse. Is a much better OS (in my opinion) than Mandrake.
 

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