Initial Alpha access restricted to 64 bit OS

This is more of an FYI: while reading the Steam page for PA, I noted that initial Alpha access requires a 64 bit operating system. I am just posting this to give this decision more visibility as some people will be rightly frustrated if they do not know this.

I am currently running a 32 bit OS (probably in the minority here), but I am happy to wait until the 32 bit option is available.

You are very much in the minority. I can't think of a single reason to run a 32 bit OS on a PC these days. They haven't made 32 bit only chips outside of the mobile market for how many years now? 6? 7? More?

I am actually quite glad that they are not supporting XP. Its time for that old horse to be taken out and put down.

Yeah, first I was kind of sad to, because my PC is still running on XP.

But then I start thinking about it and now there is finally a reason for me to do the upgrade from xp to win7(I got a free university version and win7 is no problem for my system. I was just really lazy in the past.^^).

So actuallly I have to say "thank you Uber", because I don't think that I would do this upgrade if they wouldn't make the alpha for 64bit systems only.^^

I went from 32 bit XP Pro to 64 bit 7 Ultimate and I have never looked back despite my affinity for old DOS/Win95 era games. 4 gigs of RAM just isn't enough for modern games.

Personally my reason is that when this computer was built 64bit still wasn't really that complete or stable. Of course, this computer was built probably at least 5 years ago.

That said, when I found out that it was going to be 64bit only at the start I actually started looking into upgrading. Found that for $442 (including tax) I can get a new motherboard, Intel i5, 16 gig of RAM, a cooler, and a new DVD drive. Everything else is salvageable from the current system. That includes case, OS (I have both 32bit and 64bit install media), HDDs, power supply, and video card.

Don't know if I'll do it this weekend, or wait until next. Should probably do it sooner rather than later just to get it out of the way.

I don't remember 64 bit being unstable but, it's definitely stable now, no reason to use 32 bit anymore as was mentioned above.

As to the question on why I am still using a 32 bit system, I got the operating system just before Supcom was released (Feb 2007, so over 6 years ago now), and even though I have updated my hardware to 64 bit, I haven't seen a need to update my software yet.

I think when Linux gets to a point where a nice selection of games are supported (which is pretty close now considering Steam is starting to support it) I will move on to one form of Linux.

I know being a minority user of 32 bit may frustrate Uber (neutrino has mentioned something like this in the past), the fact that they still support it is a credit to them. Who knows, if there is a good performance reason to switch, I may just do it soon. ;-)

64-bit Vista was not a pleasant experience for a lot of people.

Do you realise that 64b OS is perfectly compatible with 99% of non-64b software?

The only times you'll have trouble is when you're interfacing with rare drivers.

Only prior to SP1, I've been running 64 bit Vista and since SP1 it's been quite a lot better than it's reputed to be (prior to SP1 it really was crap though) and TBH with SP2 I even prefer Vista to Windows 7.

The only use I think XP has now is in a VM for compatibility or on old machines. Anything modern relying on performance should focus primarily on 64-bit, with 32-bit as an afterthought.

Anything that you can't run on Windows 7 by now CAN be run through a virtual machine.

32bit (home) users deserve all the ridicule they can get. There's really no excuse at this point.

32 bit is a thing of the past, and imo I don't really see this as an issue. Just gives people an excuse to upgrade. Battlefield 3 was mine.... and a new PC heh heh heh.

Vista's issues had nothing to do with the fact that it was 64 bit. The 32 bit version was just as bad. In fact running 32 bit apps on a 64 bit OS was one of the few things it got pretty much perfectly correct on release. While this was a reason to not run Vista it was not a direct reason to not run a 64 bit OS per say.

Vista post SP1 was fine and Windows 7 is essentially the perfect modern desktop OS in my opinion.

damn; i've got xp; and 32bit :cry:

The issue with 64bit vista was more drivers I felt, initially there were delays in getting nice drivers out. This issue went away with time.

Yeah, a lot of companies didn't have good 64bit drivers for their hardware when Vista was first released, but by SP1 it wasn't a problem anymore.
Vista gets a bad rap because of it's pre-SP1 problems, but really it's pretty good now. Windows 7 is pretty much just a fancy service pack for Vista but re-branded to avoid association with all the negative press Vista got prior to SP1.

32 bit systems aren't dead yet?
Damn.
I was positive the last few were restricted to old school and office computers, since basically everything runs terribly on them in comparison to a 64 bit.

Best of luck running something as large as Planetary Annihilation, but I doubt Uber ent will devote any large amount of time during the alpha to such a goal.

Not by a long shot. For enthusiasts like modern gamers it may be dying, but a lot of computers out there have never been replaced. Not so much a refresh cycle, more "I'll replace it when it dies like my toaster, unless I go first".

Well you'll be happy to know I just finished getting my computer upgraded. Intel i5, and 16 gigs of RAM. PHWOR!

Actually you probably don't care. Nobody cares. I care. And see if I care about you not caring about me caring!