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Re: Alternative to a laptop?



Here is the most succinct post I can find on the subject.  I was a little mixed up - it's not that 32-bit OS's can't see all 4GB, but at least with PC architecture, about a gig of that 4 gigs will be assigned to system level devices (video card, PCI bus, etc), leaving you with less than 4GB.  In addition, 32-bit apps can't access more than 2GB each without PAE (which is a bad idea for an audio machine).

http://dubiousquality.blogspot.com/2007/08/addressable-memory-in-32-bit-operating.html

On a Macbook Pro, this RAM-shortage might not be a problem - WITH THE NEW Santa Rosa platform.  It is definitely a well-documented problem with all other Mac/Intel platforms.  The new "36-bit" chip allows access to 4GB, and presumably (this is where I'm not positive) OSX can really use it all because it doesn't do what Windoze does (steal some of it).  In addition, 32-bit Mac apps can still only access 2GB each.

Hope that helps.

Doug