Im in the ITindustry and if you want just an opinion, I would stay away from 64 bit for this very reason. The only REAL advantage as far as I can see with running a 64 bit OS (other than linux) is the support for higher ammounts of RAM. If all the software you have is 32-bit and your hardware is mostly 32-bit then there is no real reason to go to 64-bit. I dont know your knowledge on computer stuff but most average Joes see "64-bit" and think "Sweet thats going to be way better and way faster and is the newest thing out, I should get it." But what ever you do hopefully you will get it all to work