I recently converted my Dell XPS 420 from Vista x32 Ultimate to Vista x64 Ultimate SP1 (Dell shipped me the correct DVD when I asked for the 4th time). Obviously, a lot of stuff doesn’t work out-of-the box, but a little research did wonders:

Alternatives:

  • Cisco VPN -> Shrew Soft VPN (64 bit optimized)
  • CanoScan Toolbox & Drivers -> VueScan

Optimized for 64 bit:

  • 7-Zip
  • Firefox (called Minefield)
  • Internet Explorer (installed with OS)
  • MediaCoder
  • Adobe Illustrator CS4, Acrobat 9, Photoshop CS4,
  • K-Lite CODEC Pack
  • NVIDIA drivers
  • iTunes
  • Paint.NET
  • Logitech SetPoint

Doesn’t work in 64 bit:

  • Flash on 64 bit browser (you need to use the 32 bit browser)
  • Plugins for 64 bit FireFox (IE Tab)
  • Cisco VPN
  • Dell drivers that make icons look like the flash drive they represent (i.e., they all appear as Removable Disk, versus SD-card, etc.)