New
#11
The Virtual PC 2007 would still work while the new VPC for 7 and the XP Mode require at least an AM2 board for the dual core lineup of cpus there which all apparently see ready support. In fact in order to see a family member able to upgrade out of a 939 board running XP Pro there to 7 and the XP mode which is the Pro edition the case would need to be upgraded or replaced entirely.
The only item not seeing a Vista 64 update at the HP support site was the sata/RAID controller driver there. However the Windows updates may locate that for you as one of the optional updates seen.
Without hardware support for VT, you won't get the full power and potential of a virtual machine, but you can still run one, provided you have enough memory. Virtual PC 2007 and VirtualBox will work. An x64 OS has nothing to do with VT, so as long as your processor supports x64 extensions (it does), you can run Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64 just fine.
All AMD cpus since 2003 have seen support for the 64bit kernel. The Socket As also saw support as well.
The cpu as far as the 64bit Windows was never the problem. Socket 939 boards and older tend to lack Vista updates while mn9500 is fortunate enough not to have to worry about onboard video or sound only the sata/RAID driver which will likely be found by the Windows updates as an option.
Even with the newer AM2 board I had some fun initially with that since Vista updates were "LATE"! while 7 will be far better off for most since you can still use the late Vista updates on 7!
That's one of the reasons I've been using Intel chipsets for six years now or so, exclusively. I always know...whatever OS I choose to use, I will have driver support.
I wouldn't count on that lasting forever since they will want you to buy a new one on a new board!
I normally do buy new boards. In those six years or so, I've probably used 12 motherboards or so, not counting systems I've built for friends and family. They've always been rock solid, stable, excellent performance and OS support.
Don't forget during those 6yrs. which version of Windows was predominant at the time namely XP due to the delays seen with Vista. The 64bit XP is the one that suffered there however since that never saw the support the Vista 64 is favoring now.
7 will be a piece of cake for driver support in comparison for the boards that are now seeing Vista updates as well as the ones for 7 still coming. As long as mn9500 can find or through the MS updates get the sata/RAID controller drivers he should be set to go there however.
If you don't have access to programs like this, the easiest way is to just test and see if it'll install. If you're CPU/Mobo aren't 64bit capable, it'll tell you its not because the Installation will error.
Just another tip, most CPUs and Mobos are 64bit capable.