If you feel like trying to find a copy of Windows XP Pro 64-bit (and dealing with its attendant driver issues), it supports up to 128 GB of RAM.

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Lots of diesel W126s in the past
Current: 1991 Toyota 4Runner with an OM603

Not to mention applications that will support it.

On different hardware I'm running Win7 x86 (enterprise), Win7 x64 (enterprise) Win7 x86 (enterprise) and Win7 x86 (Home Premium) (these last two are notebooks, both older hardware).

On the latter three of the systems it has run flawlessly: no lockups, no freezes, no reboots. The first of those three, though, is a workhorse that I use for testing lots of different things, and about once every 4-6 weeks it will lock up or reboot. Considering how it is used, I don't consider that unexpected, nor am I dissatisfied. The same hardware used to run Win XP Pro x86, and it ran worse than it does with Win7.

At work we are very near to being completely a Win7 shop. We have a handful of machines still running XP Pro for exactly the kinds of hardware-legacy reasons described in this thread. We have slightly less trouble tickets than we did with XP, and the reality for both systems (vis a vis trouble tickets) is that users are often the weakest link.

This is the first time I have found anyone that liked Win7.Honestly I have been around and worked on Windows machines since Windows first came out. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most of my machines are DIY. The last 2 desk tops were cheap name brands (E-Mach and Dell). I also have a Note Book(Acer) and a NetBook(Acer). None of them were very stable. The home built machines never had Win 7. I guess it is just me.
Paul

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

I've been dealing with networked Windows since 3.1, then NT, XP and soon to 7. Each iteration has seen a huge improvement in stability. I doubt I have had a blue screen more than 2-3 times since we have had XP. I use graphics and computationally intensive GIS software (ArcMap and Erdas) and some other oddball things in addition to MS Office. The GIS stuff crashes 2-3 times per week but that's the software, not the OS. Folks at work tell me that 7 is a significant improvement. I hope so. Our IT folks don't like it because of software incompatibility issues that vendors say don't exist.

For DIY computers (all my pcs are built by yours truly) I think you'll find that win7 is much better. Drivers are generally much more stable in win7, and you can roll back to use xp drivers as well (though not sure why you'd want x86 drivers anyways unless you have a lot of old hardware). It's also less resource intensive (why I'd recommend over xp for the op) and boots quicker. I've been considering doing a windows 8 beta as well...

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Windows 7 is by far the more stable OS. I dunno how people are still using XP unless forced to by their employers.

Most problems with Windows are from bad drivers and such, so perhaps if you tried Win7 in its infancy, your hardware manufacturers were inept at coding for it.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

I don't see any major problems with either OS. Vista on the other hand, grrrrr. And don't get me started on how Windows 8 is trying to be Crapple iOS and restricting Metro(sexual) apps not bought via Redmond. Thanks Steve Jobs for starting that trend -- hope your relationship with Satan is going well

Hot rodding computers used to be so much easier, much like older cars used to be easier to work on and tune. Now, the systems seem to be ever so much more fragile, to gain performance, and reliant on an intgrated approach to hardware and software.

I don't see the problem -- unless you're talking about netbooks or all-in-ones, components are available in great variety, and they're CHEAP as well.

How so? Hardware components are practically plug and play. Systems aren't that much more fragile, there are just more and more process and memory intensive programs out there that run the components closer to their limits. I just built a new PC 2 weeks ago, replacing the one I had for 7 years as my daily desktop (which I also built and remained stable). This one only started to see issues after it was overclocked by over 40% or so. I've backed it down to around 20% and it's been fine. And as I said plug and play--everything is standardized to fit with each other, so as long as you do a minimal amount of homework ahead of time you'll have a pile of components up and running in less than an hour. Longest part is usually depending on how you decide to run your cabling and how neat you want it all to look. If you just want it working, everything just snaps together, from the case studs and mobo to any peripheral components.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Yeah, remember having to set IRQ jumpers, and running out of available IRQs?

What a PITA, I'm not too old (in comparison to most on here), but IRQs were around when I started to tinker with computers in middle school. I couldn't tell you how many IRQ conflicts I used to see, especially when I had no clue what I was doing lol...Now it'll detect all the hardware in POST and you can assign/disable/whatever in the BIOS

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I'm not disputing that prices have gone way down, or that processing power is greatly advanced for homebrew computers. However, it's my observation that homebrews are the minority of deployed desktops, just as desktops are declining in numbers.

It's also a generational observation, having come from the days of Z80's and later the ISA slot based PC/AT motherboards of IBM. When the ATX standard was adopted, with more of the i/o controllers being built in as part of the BIOS, I found that "plug & play" initially was better termed plug & pay for upgrades in hardware and software. Numerous fiascos with HP printers, Twain devices, and the like must seem like distant memories.

I'm glad that modern BIOS and component designs are making it easier, but I do see the days of the homebrew PC coming to an end.

I think a lot of that has to do with market perception. People think they need to have one computer to suit all of their needs...and they "need" it to be portable. Given the drop in prices, I think that is why many typical home users prefer laptops, despite the fact that the farthest it travels is the living room couch. For me, I would have to pay upwards of $2000 to get equivalent components in a laptop for a computer I just built for less than $500 (Just went to Dell to check it out, I'd imagine other brand name laptops have around the same price/performance). That plus a $300 netbook covers both portability and performance, saving over $1000. I don't think I'd want to do video editing on a laptop anyways.

There will always be a market for DIY PC's as long as there is a gaming community and people willing to do a bit of extra work to save money. There's definitely a time and purpose for a PC versus a laptop, but I don't see it dying anytime soon...its sort of the same idea as car modding...flavors might change, but there is still a huge market. I'm waiting for standardized laptop cases and components--I think that would be a nice development.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I have been running windows 7 for almost 2 years now without a problem.

Never really had a problem with any windows version over the years.

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2006 CL500
2009 C300 4matic
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200