64 bit in noticeably the way of the future. Having 64bit Windows on the other hand is more of a hassle, while 32bit programs run, 32bit drivers do not. So good luck finding drivers especially to old pieces of hardware. The only company that has extensive 64bit drivers are nVidia and ATI, and I thank them much for that, other then that HP doesn't yet for their printers (or at least my printer) and Dell doesn't for my Dell DJ. 64bit Antivirus's are hard to come by and the same goes with firewalls. Avast 32bit does however work in 64bit Windows. The only big advantage to it is the speed. XP itself loads noticeably faster. Give it a few more years and everybody will be all over the 64bit craze.