-----Original Message-----
From: wdsci-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:wdsci-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joe Pluta
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 3:07 PM
To: Websphere Development Studio Client for iSeries
Subject: Re: [WDSCI-L] Will RDi finally support 64 bit OS?
Just wondering: why do you need more than 4GB on a client PC?
Joe
Hi Joe,
I for one decided to go with more RAM for three reasons:
* 4 GB is the theoretical limit for XP. In reality, even with 4 GB
installed you will never have access to all 4 GB because memory for
video cards and other hardware are mapped into that same 4 GB address
space. On my work PC I only had 2.93 GB of RAM visible to XP out of 4
GB.
* RAM is extremely inexpensive right now. I only paid $239 for four 2
GB sticks, including shipping.
* Virtual Machines need extra RAM, and once you start playing with VMs
it is hard to stop.
For anyone not using VirtualPC (free now) or VMware ($200 for
Workstation), you might want to consider it. You will be amazed at how
virtualization will change how you work.
I have three things off the top of my head that I love about using VMs:
* I have a base XP install that I can clone in a couple of minutes,
install and test anything, and then just delete the clone when I am done
testing. That keeps my real work PC nice and clean.
* VMs are also great for developing Client/Server applications because
you can run both the Client & Server PCs in Virtual Machines on the same
PC, each running the OS that the live applications will run.
* And finally, because I run WDSC in a VM, that makes WDSC 'portable'.
I no longer have to keep multiple PCs in sync with the latest settings
and updates because I am always using the same virtual PC.
The only downside (so far) for me has been that a VM is never as fast as
native computing. It is very usable though and better than the
alternative.
Dave
midrange.com
