Looking to purchase a new laptop to get me thru my final year of Arch grad school and a couple years beyond.

I have reviewed many threads on Archinect regarding computer purchases and they have been really helpful. Thanks Archinectors!If I missed a particular thread regarding my questions above, apologies!

My Macbook Pro recently died. The cost of repairs and the need to upgrade software has led me to consider a new machine. I have decided to go the PC route for reasons probably best suited for another thread.

My application needs:
Adobe CS4 (multiple apps open at same time)
AutoCAD 2010
Revit 2010
Rhino
3D studio Max
MS Office Suite

My questions:

64 bit vs. 32bit?
Windows 7 vs the downgrade to Windows XP?
Intel Duo Core vs. the newer Quad Cores?

My overall question: Which combination will allow the most hassel free, effective running of the applications I list above? Which combo would be an overall smart approach but not an overkill for my computer needs for the immediate term and perhaps the next three years.

Thank you archinectors in advance for your thoughts!

I would go for a 64bit Windows7 quad core, maybe a bit of an overkill 90% of the time but for this 10% (when there's this big deadline) it is nice to know your system is capable of it and you can devote your attention to other more important things than waiting for a render to finish or what have you.

64 bit for sure. You're gonna wanna have about 6 gigs of RAM or so by the end of next year and a 32bit OS won't let you do that without slowing you down.

Windows 7 is full of awesome. Been testing the release candidate since June with zero complaints; I used to curse at vista every 2 days for acting stupid when I pushed my machine (Nvidia graphics crashes ftl).

Quad-core. You're gonna be rendering in 3DsMax so it will definitely help you there.

thanks much folks your comments, I'm getting ready to take the big plunge this weekend.

64bit, quad-core, at least 6GB ram, win7, thats a pretty good set-up for laptop, you will not regret it, especially if you will be using max.

make sure you get at least 512MB dedicated graphic card as well.