debian etch vs debian for amd64
 

I have just installed debian etch in my AMD sempron 3000 machine and found satisfactory ( I got the dvd from a magazine).
before that I was trying to download debian for 64 bit ( it is in progress).

My question is whether 'etch' is 64 bit ?

is there any difference if i install the 64 bit debian over etch?

Is there any linux distro which uses the full power of dual core processors ( also implements parallel processing)?

Yes, there is a 64-bit Etch version. You should download the "AMD64" version. If you got the "x86" version, no that is not 64-bit.

64-bit OSes still have kinks to work out, but they work pretty well.

As for Linuxes that can do multiple cores? Yes, all of them do.

Yes I have downloaded 64 bit etch. Thank you

Keep in mind the features that are not yet natively available for 64 bit systems.. personally I think 64 bit is great on the server side, but you will probably cause yourself more grief than necessary using it as a workstation if you expect everything to just work, especially on the multimedia side..

what was mentioned in that other thread.. flash plugins, java, etc..

My argument is on this thread. My position: AMD64 all the way.