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can you guys chime in on this comment below :

Its kind of a non-issue as both the 32-bit and 64-bit kernels will run 64-bit apps -- and you gotta be doing something huge to really use 64-bits -- so I'm not sure I would count that as a compelling feature unless you are doing high end graphics or video work. Mac Pros all the way back to early 2008 can boot the 64-bit kernel. If you boot the 64-bit kernel, it lets you have more than 32GB of RAM, but you can't be running any 32-bit kernel extensions. There is not a super-compelling reason for non-developers to boot the 64-bit kernel as far as I can tell.

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evaluating if I need to focus on getting a 2010 Mac Pro and how much this 64 bit business matters - I mostly record drum tracks to song ideas

thanks!

1 word : WRONG
1 example I use Superior2 with DP
With the Platinum SamplesEvil Drums library with the 32bit Kernel limitations, the only way I can run that library is turning off the cache and lowering all of the settings to the lowest possible(16bit etc.... ) to keep DP from crashing.
Too many programs have gotten more processor hungry & are crippled with the 32bit Kernel limitations,the transition to the 64bit Kernel is going to be more important than I think you are grasping at the moment.
Also if you can find a used '09 MacPro and load with Ram you will be set for quite a while.

I don't know where the quote came from but maybe the perspective is the general computer user base doing email, twitter and facebook. You don't need much to do these.

But for music and video it does matter. The 32 bit kernel restricts you to 4G RAM for each application. If you run DP with a lot of VIs with large sample libraries you will could that limit quite quickly. In fact, in another thread there is the claim that things start teetering at about 2.7G. There are some other very interesting possibilities with very large RAM access limits, like being able to have an entire song pre-rendered in RAM.

So 64 bit can be a really big deal. Anyway, can you even buy a 32 bit computer any more?

bayswater wrote: The 32 bit kernel restricts you to 4G RAM for each application.

This is wrong. You can run 64 bit apps in 32bit kernel. And those apps can use more than 4gb of ram.
That said, looking at some benchmarks it seems that there's a slight performance boost running in 64bit compared to 32.

Some other drawbacks with 32bit kernel (for those macs that can't boot in 64bit, like the Mac Pro 1,1):
- Developers will eventually stop developing 32bit drivers which live in the kernel which means they won't work.
- Future OSes won't support 32bit machines.

Those are the two main reasons I can think of other that pure efficiency.
No matter how you twist and turn it though, having a machine that can start in 64bit kernel will be a good thing.

some of these 2009 machines can be jumped into 64 bit by holding down 6 and 4 on boot up. Does that mean it will stay in 64 bit until restarted > even in sleep mode? Not sure how it works? thanks

There's a command line procedure and or app that you can run so the Mac always runs the 64bit Kernel.
My '08 has been running this way since Dec. or January.

FutureLegends wrote:

bayswater wrote: The 32 bit kernel restricts you to 4G RAM for each application.

This is wrong. You can run 64 bit apps in 32bit kernel. And those apps can use more than 4gb of ram.

Even if they use 32 bit components to address memory?

Not sure what you mean by 32bit components.

There was a huge thread about this a couple of months ago. I posted numerous links to articles detailing this and both me and another user successfully got apps to use more than 4gb of ram when running in 32bit kernel.

There is no mystery, no ifs, you can use more than 4gb of ram even in 32bit kernel.

I just talked to an owner of a 2010 Mac Pro and he boots by default to 32 bit kernel - anybody know which year Mac's started booting 64bit by default?

It doesn't matter as stated previously you can change that so any 64bit capable Mac will always boot in the 64bit Kernel.
As I said in a previous post my '08 has been this way since December or January.

Here's a link:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/32252/ ... e-selector