bundled 64-bit OS's on the horizon?

[insane_alien]

i have never seen a 64-bit OS offered with 4GB of RAM here (scotland) only macs are sold like that, but unfortunately they are not a majority.

[Daveski]

...
so, does that mean we will finally see commercial and non-free applications like skype and flash ported to native 64-bit?

Well, ESR thinks that the end of 2008 is the deadline:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=380534

[insane_alien]

its a soft deadline but i would say that the end of the year could roughly be the time of the transition although its likely to be blurry.

the most common RAM configuration just now seems to be 2GB but 3GB is coming up in a lot of the midranges. 4GB as standard should be cropping up at the end of the year and then they're going to have to switch soon after that. i'd say its more likely to be spring 2009. perhaps summer.

but then, the software companies will have to port everything and that might slow it down somewhat, maybe even to the end of 2009.

[SunnyRabbiera]

I doubt 32 bit as a standard is going anywhere, even with all these super core processors and junk the 32 bit era will go on for a long time sorry to say.
Until Microsoft takes full interest in 64 only no one will go to it as they own so much of the market.
Just because the technology is there it doesnt mean they will use it wisely.

[insane_alien]

oh i don't expect it do die off anytime soon. i just expect there to be a surge in the commercial 64-bit software along with more computers being sold with a 64-bit OS.

i expect that low power computers like the eeepc and their successors will remain 32-bit until even those have more than 4GB of RAM.