Tek <tek### [at] evilsuperbraincom> wrote:
> I just bought an 64-bit AMD Turion based laptop, which irritatingly has 
> 32-bit windows installed

  Don't you hate that? All those resources gone to waste...

  (Of course one reason for that is that MS has still not published a
good, stable and well-tested 64-bit version of Windows...)

  I don't actually remember if you can upgrade Windows to 64-bit for
free. You should consult microsoft.com.

> 2/ how much better is 64-bit pov compared to 32-bit on the same system? 
> (i.e. is it worth the effort?)

  Unlike many other 32/64-bit systems (such as UltraSparc and Macintosh),
in the AMD 64-bit systems there's an actual speed advantage in running
(optimized) 64-bit binaries compared to 32-bit binaries. This is because
in 64-bit mode the CPU provides more resources for the program to use
for speed (most importantly, more registers).
  If you run a 64-bit binary of POV-Ray in an AMD64 processor, you will
most probably get a rendering speed increase compared to the 32-bit binary
in the same system. (Of course this assumes that the 64-bit binary has been
*optimized* for the 64-bit architecture. That depends on the compiler used.)

  Naturally other advantages (not to be taken lightly) include more usable
memory (no 4GB limit anymore) and possibility of using larger files.

> Now I realise there's no straight answer to question 1 but I'm getting SO 
> annoyed with linux users! Whenever I ask one of the guys at work they always 
> name about a dozen versions of linux I should try. It's an OS! I don't want 
> to try it, I just want to install one and use it!

  I don't have too much experience about different linux distros, but in
your case I would recommend Suse. It has a superb support for hardware
(it was actually the only distro which would work correctly in my more
or less exotic system) and it's easy to use (you can usually use its
package manager yast2, which is quite easy to use, for almost everything).

  All in all, especially if you don't have too new too exotic hardware,
it usually doesn't matter too much which distro you use. I personally
have good experiences about Suse, but you can choose whatever you like.

> Can all versions of linux run povray?

  I can't imagine why they couldn't. Can you?

> Can they all run the same programs, 
> and if not why not?

  I can't think of any reason why they couldn't. The kernel is identical
in all of them and the system tools are the same. The only difference may
be in the default amount of installed libraries, but most distros come
with an easy-to-use package manager which can be used to easily install
(almost) any library which you need.

> Do different ones run pov at different speeds?

  Why would they? The kernel is the same for all of them.

> Are there 
> special 64-bit versions of linux (like windows) or is it just exposed in a 
> more implicit way?

  I assume that most linux distros will detect your system and install the
proper versions of the kernel and system tools automatically (afaik at
least Suse does this).

  If after installation you have doubts, you can try "uname -a" and see
if "64" is mentioned anywhere in the result.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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