AMD64 vs. i386, any new observations?

[Edgars Šmits]

I'm getting ready for Gutsy's release, and was thinking about going to
the AMD64 version, but wasn't sure of what the current issues around
64 bit were. As I remember last fall I chose i386 as many users
reported issues with 64 bit versions of 3rd party software - OO
printing, Flash etc., however, a year has gone by and I assume some of
those problems have been eliminated.

A search through Ubuntuforums brings up a discussion on the subject,
however the newest entry is from 2005. A google search for "AMD64 vs
i386" + Ubuntu did bring up an interesting comparison test

http://fedora.thelinuxpimp.com/files/amd64vsi386.pdf

comparing the LiveCD versions of Dapper and Edgy and says:

Following conclusions were made:
1. It was clearly shown that most of applications have better
performance in 64 bit environment.
2. Performance degradation was observed in very few cases and it was
very low – in about few
percents – lame MP3 encoder, GNU compiler.
3. Most of applications have 20-30% performance gain in 64 bit mode.
4. In very few cases the gain was extremely high – 70-100% –
mathematical processing in octave, image processing with ImageMagic.

Which, if true, seems reason enough to switch.

How do list members who have tried both versions lately see it,
especially any of you who have already downloaded the beta of Gutsy?


ED