Hi LQ,
Need some help to clarify something about Core 2 Duo processors and debian distro.

Assuming i'm installing debian on a pc using a Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 4300 1.8 Ghz processor.
What are the pro and cons using an AMD64 distro instead of an i386 ?

Could it be better for application like blender for example ?

Regards,
Pierre

64-bit currently has no advantages aside from data crunching, AFAIK. It does have a few problems like certain software not working correctly. I'd just stick with i386.

For Blender, definitely. For multimedia processing and databases in general, yes. Unfortunately,64 bit Debian is not as advanced as Ubuntu when it comes to supporting 32 bit. I have been pulling my hairs out trying to install a 32 bit browser (which I need to make a recent java plug-in work). The only things that will work is Opera since that is available as a static package too. But all the rest - flock, netscape, firefox - no luck. The only option is building a 32 bit chroot but that is a waste of time, tricky, ugly and inconvenient. that being said, some 32 bit applications do work on 64 bit Debian if ones uses force-architecture. All in all, 64 bit Debian is OK but rather inflexible. Some applications will run a bit faster (about 40% in some cases) while other ones will suffer. It really depends on your needs.

I run Fedora 8 64bit. Java works without issue (technically icetea works), flash is supported, etc. I cannot think of anything that has not been supported. What you do and how much memory you are running is a pretty good deciding factor. If you have or will have greater than 3gig of ram then do not screw around, just use 64bit. If you are doing heavy number crunching (converting videos etc) again stick with 64bit. Other than that it is pretty much of a coin toss. For most regular apps(firefox, vlc, openoffice etc) you will not see much of a speed difference.

I run AMD64 on my machine and can do everything that i did with an i386.People often state the lack of a flashplugin for Firefox/Iceweasel as a reason for not using a 64bit distro, just use nspluginwrapper and you can use the 32bit plugin.
So i would say go for it,install the 64bit.The answers are there.It may take a little more time to sort but it is worth it.64bit is the future.....

Best Regards
The trooper

I did install a brand new 64bit debian distro, without any trouble at the moment.
Seems to work fine, blender is working pretty well and fast.
And i did encountered a trouble with flashplugin ... solved by installing nspluginwrapper. As you said.
Thanks a bunch for your posts.