I have one family member who purchased a 64 bit laptop about one year ago. He figured he'd be ready for the future and was waiting to run a 64 bit operating system. I just sent him an email urging him not to do so, because the operating system is highly insecure.

Sure the software has a build in firewall and supports the NX-technology to prevent buffer overflow attacks. But for consumers there is no anti virus software available.

Symantec has only committed to creating an enterprise version of its anti virus software. Sources say that the company will take a "wait and see" approach for its consumer offering on 64 bit Windows: only when there are enough users hurting, will the company consider bringing them relief.

The lack of an anti virus product isn't the only problem that Windows XP Professional x64 edition faces. The software ships with only a limited number of 64 bit drivers – the old 32 bit versions don't work. So even if you hope and pray that you won't be hit by a virus, you shouldn't count on being able to use your scanner or webcam in 64 bit Windows.