Dell Laptop Recommendation

[Dale Farnsworth]

> My Dell Latitude just died...a subject for a different post. I just
> received an advertisement from Dell for a Studio 1555 on sale for $699
> (Windows 7). The Dell sales rep said it is also Linux compatible. I want
> to install Debian testing on it.  It has a dual core 64 bit processor. I
> have never had a 64 bit processor pc before. 
> 
> Are 32 bit Debian packages/apps compatible with this processor? 

Yes.  You can run 32-bit Debian packages on a 64-bit Debian OS, as long
as you have installed the needed 32-bit libraries.  There are some
problems with third-party 32-bit apps like Skype.  As an alternative,
you could install 32-bit Debian on this system, but if you have lots
of memory, you'll be happier with an amd64 install.

> Are most Debian packages 64 bit today, or just a subset? Large, small
> subset? Growing?

As far as Debian packages are concerned, I think all (or essentially all)
packages are available in the in 64-bit (amd64) Debian.

> Is there a way to re-install the windows 7 as a virtual os or am I stuck
> with a dual boot situation?

I haven't done it, but I expect it to work.

-Dale