A lot of my older programs won't work with this OS.

Any suggestions on good software.

Can I go into 32 bit mode and use my old software, and if so is this adviseable.

For right now, keep away from the 64 bit versions until they can get the kinks kicked out of it. It's still in BETA (a prototype form) and most likely will not go final for a year or so and only then using the Vista wrapper.