CUSTOMER SERVICE MEMO CSTP0801

for 2008 Edition of HowardSoft's Tax Preparer®

Running Tax Preparer under 64-bit Vista

Background. Tax Preparer is fully compatible with the standard Windows Vista operating system, including all levels of Vista (Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate). However, Microsoft now offers a 64-bit version of Vista for all levels, for use on computers with 64-bit processors. The main advantage of the 64-bit version is the ability to access much larger amounts of memory than is possible with the 32-bit version. While the 32-bit version can access no more than 4 GB of memory, the 64-bit version can access much more (artificially limited to 8 GB for Vista Home Basic, 16 GB for Vista Home Premium, and 128 GB for Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate).

Perspective. In spite of the memory advantage, there is little reason to use the 64-bit version and many reasons not to. The need for accessing more memory than the 32-bit version allows is elusive for most people, in spite of the marketing hype. For most people, the only advantage is the ability to run numerous applications simultaneously without any degradation in performance. But to keep this advantage in perspective, you should note that most popular applications require no more than 128 MB of memory. This means that you would see an advantage only if you run 30 typical programs at the same time! The big disadvantage is lack of 100% compatibility with the software and hardware that you use. 64-bit Vista is totally incompatible with any software that has any 16-bit modules and any printer or scanner drivers designed for 32-bit operating systems. Microsoft has addressed the driver issue by providing 64-bit drivers for popular current hardware; but support for older hardware is unavailable. And Microsoft has addressed the 16-bit software issue by writing special translators for certain popular installers, most of which require 16-bit support; but other software is left unsupported, including Tax Preparer.

How to know that you have 64-bit Vista. Except for the packaging for a new computer you may have purchased, you may not know whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. If you try to install Tax Preparer and receive a message about the lack of a SETUP.LID file (for defining the language), or you try to run Tax Preparer and receive a message that TP08IUS is incompatible wih 64-bit versions of Windows, then you have a 64-bit machine with a 64-bit operating system. You can also determine the operating system by looking at your computer's properties (accessed by right clicking the My Computer icon, then clicking Properties and looking at the information on the General tab).

Recommendations. Our recommendations for Tax Preparer, in order of preference, are:

Use 32-bit Vista on your 64-bit machine. 32-bit Vista is fully compatible with 64-bit machines. In fact, most 64-bit machines have 32-bit Vista pre-installed. This is the best choice if you do not use software that requires the 64-bit operating system and you do not regularly run several applications at the same time. However, if your computer already has 64-bit Vista installed, you will lose all programs and data on the computer when you install 32-bit Vista, since Microsoft does not provide a friendly downgrade in the same way that they provide a friendly upgrade.
Use Tax Preparer under a 64-bit Virtual Box. You can run Tax Preparer within a program called Virtual Box, which is a 32-bit emulator that allows you to run other operating systems in spite of the limitations of 64-bit Vista. The emulator is available free at www.virtualbox.org, but you must also have a licensed copy of the 32-bit operating system you want to use. We have successfully installed Tax Preparer within a Virtual Box window on a computer with 64-bit Vista Home Premium, and found it to be fully functional ... including updating on the web through our Tax Preparer Control Panel.

We do not recommend Microsoft's own Virtual PC for 32-bit emulation because it is not compatible with 64-bit Vista Home (Basic or Premium) and is harder to use than Virtual Box. Note that both Virtual PC and Virtual Box require that you have a licensed CD-ROM copy of the 32-bit operating system you want to install under the emulator. We recommend Windows XP rather than 32-bit Vista for this purpose because the former requires no more than 512 MB of memory to be reserved for the emulator when it is running. Although Microsoft no longer sells or supports Windows XP, you can buy it for less than $100 from a number of retailers ... but be sure to buy the stand-alone OEM version, not an upgrade version. (You can also use earlier versions of Windows, but you must have the driver for your printer that is designed for that operating system, which rules out some newer printers.)