Running Windows XP for 64 Bit Extended Systems as my default machine
In the same "dogfooding" spirit as the previous experiments done by some of my colleagues how chose to switch to a Tablet PC, a Windows Server 2003 or running as non "Admin" on their default machine, I will start in September the experience of using an AMD64 laptop running Windows XP for 64 Bit Extended Systems as my default machine.
I have this Compaq Presario R3160US for a couple of months now, and I've installed nearly all what I need on it. It's running a Microsoft internal build of Windows XP for 64 bit Extended Systems, and since this morning, it is also running SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 and Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 in 64 Bit mode. Of course, the Office 2003 suite and Outlook are installed on it since day one, as well as a couple of other tools that compose my prefred toolbox.
First step, I leave on Friday on vacation, and this is the machine that I'll take with me this year. Yes, I dare :)
I'll try to blog on a regular basis to tell you the good, the bad and (hopefully not too much) of the ugly of this experience. Stay tuned.
Oh, by the way, if you actually own an AMD64 machine, chances are high that it is running a good old 32 bit Windows XP. Microsoft has announced an OS exchange program from 32 bit to 64 bit.