If you install 4G RAM, XP 32-bit will allow you to use 3.25-3.5G. XP reserves the rest for some system functions. Depending upon how many peripherals you have installed, the amount of RAM might be less. On my loaded-up trading rig, System shows only 2.75G RAM available to me. but that's not a problem as the most physical RAM I ever use is about 800MB. Having more RAM installed which is not being utilized will not speed things up at all.
I would go with the 64 bits version, it is the future and you can have much more ram. Here is a humble suggestion: spend 100 dollars or so more and buy a new hard drive; uninstall your current hard drive with xp and install the new one; then, install windows 7 on the new hard drive and keep the old one with xp in a safe place; if you have problems with the windows 7 version, you can always switch back to xp in no time. You can also use your current harddrive and make an image of the xp installation with acron is true image software (that also allow you to change back and forth to xp/win7 but takes longer) Cheers.
if i were you i would wait for the 1st service pack release. there are always problems with new releases from microsoft. these will not only be a pain in the you know what but also could make your life difficult. i would keep the media set you purchased but wait for that 1st service pack and use xp while you wait. you know what you getting with xp. there is a reason businesses are still on xp "think about it"
'if it ain't broke . . . ' NT 7 - others ? - is coded for XP Pro but may work ok on W 7 if i'd known about SSDrives i'd've had one installed in this computer which i believe is also a major component - the hd - of speed/efficiency but all this is about computer rather than order entry which has to do with data transmission from then back to one's computer
I'm using Windows 7 64 bits, 8 gb ram, quad core. TWS/Java/TWS API/Excel/Tradingblox/eSignal. Everything working fine, no complaints.
I like to keep my charts separate from my DOM therefore I use two computers for my trading. They both got Windows 7 64 bit installed. The DOM computer is a Dell Laptop, quad core, 4GB of RAM, performs flawless. The Chart computer is a desktop a friend of mind built for me. It has an Intel Quad Core, 8GB of RAM, 295GTX Video Card, 1 Intel SSD Drive for OS/Applications, and a 1TB HD for data and media. This machine works with IB Java and Multicharts. This one performs flawless as well. I also do gaming on this computer, you can pretty much tell by the video card. Windows 7 64-bit feels very stable on both, I can recommend it even before Service Pack 1 is out.
Wow... I feel like a fool having been on XP for all these weeks when creamy smooth perfection was so easily attainable. Goodbye XP, you were adequate and the only option for oh so many years. Holy Shizzle... I had a feeling there was a problem when my Memory usage on XP was 1.99 Gig. I was maxed out. It also had my CPU running at about 25% on average with all my apps up. Now I average 5% CPU and 2.3 Gig RAM. This beast is smooth and stable. Love everything they've done. Microsoft knocked the cover off the ball. Many people think it's cool to stay on the old OS's and in the past they have been right.... this time they're wrong.
dont get your hopes up just yet. even xp has a smooth operation with a new build. come back in 6 months when the system has been running in for a while and see how much of a hog it really is. Plus there has been plenty of write-ups about how vulnerable it is to viruses..