Maximum PC

Looking to download from the Ubuntu site an iso, and I'm wondering if I should go with x64 or x86. My PC has 4GB of RAM, so I'm leaning towards x64, but I don't believe x64 Linux is like x86, where I can use the x86 version (most of the time) if x64 version isn't available.

I don't follow the question. Just use the 64bit version?

Well, I'm mainly wondering if I'd run into problems with the x64 version. I don't know how well Linux is supported in that department, like how Windows XP x64 was.

There are a few caveats, but I haven't run into many issues. TLG probably has a decent idea. He runs 64-bit linux.

I have been running x64 Fedora for about 2 years now and the only thing I can recall being a PITA was Adobe Flash.

Ditto, but with OpenSuse...however I have had occasional issues with PulseAudio also. I do think that's more specific to OpenSuse though.

I will add that to the typical noob, I'd expect filtering 32 bit and 64 bit libraries might get puzzling if one's not paying attention..

I do question, that with 4 gigs, if a 64 bit Linux OS is really necessary. There certainly isn't much (or any) performance bump by running 64...

Linux supports PAE so there is no need to go 64-bit just to support 4GB or more of memory.

And if you plan to watch any media, stick with 32-bit. The codecs are severely lacking in the 64-bit world.

huh? I have no problems with hulu, .avi, .m2ts, .mkv, and just playing a dvd. What issues are you speaking of? I am curious and want to go try it out.

+1

I have no idea where the hell that came from too...

I frequently flip between Ubuntu and Debian. I've given 64 bit ISOs a go and often get hung up something necessary (to me at least). Like Flash, Java, Audio, or VGA drivers. Actually, 32 bit or 64 bit, this is where most people have issues with Linux on the Desktop. My recent bout with 64 Debian went as follows.

Audio: No real problem at all. My only issue is that my video card supports audio over HDMI, my onboard audio and my sound card all register in Linux. When ALSA goes to run at startup, it doesn't know which interface to connect to. Running alsaconf as root works it out, but it's getting annoying doing it after each startup. Keep in mind that this is not a 64 bit issue, but common with PCs who have more than one available audio interface.

Flash: No real problem at all, srsly. I googled 64 bit Flash, downloaded from Adobe, restarted my browser, and off I was. Awesome.

VGA: I actually had to start a thread about this because I couldn't figure it out. It ended up just being a matter of choosing fglrx drvers rather than ATI's Catalyst for Linux blobs.

Java: I've followed Sun's manual installation instructions to a Tee and I still don't know what's up. In Ubuntu or other user-friendly distros, installing all of this is as easy as clicking a check-box. It's supposed to be download a bin file, move it to a system directory like /usr/local, chmod a+x, run the file with a "./" before it, and voila! It's always worked in 32 bit Debian, so I'm blaming 64 bit this time. Luckily, Java is least important of the 4.

To the OP, 64 bit Linux is much better supported than XP x64. It's not like that at all. There are very few problems related specifically to 64bit or 32 bit. Plus if you have any issues, post 'em here and we'll help you figure them out.

yea..this is puzzling, but has improved

At least the 64 bit browser plugin works now..

The one that comes to mind right off the bat is anything that uses Intel Indeo 5. I've got a ton of .wmv files that play with no sound.

The problem is that there's no real equivalent to the win32codecs in the 64bit world (w64codecs is a start, but its still lacking). The media players wouldn't still be using this if they didn't need it.