the road to 64-bit?

I am trying out a spanking new laptop with Intel T4300 (Dual Core) CPU which came pre-installed with a 64-bit Windows.

Since it's time to get Ubuntu setup on here, the question I am researching is if I should make the leap to 64-bit Ubuntu.

From what I have read so far on the discussion boards, there is not much in terms of what is missing on the 64-bit. The two questions:
a) Is there any benefit of running 64-bit?
b) Is "everything" supported on 64-bit?

a) Maybe I will not notice a performance improvement on applications like Firefox or Eclipse. If I am doing any image or video processing, maybe that shows improvement. I suppose I might even see improvement in mp3 decoding/encoding.
Though, the major benefit it seems is in using 64-bit is to expand the user-base. The key being, the more people use it, the more issues get reported and resolved.

b) If there are any missing packages on 64-bit, I should have an idea of those before I get set up. That is an exercise in itself.
One of the issues I read with versions before 8.04 was that the kernel did not have tickless support, which meant a drain on the battery. That's not going to be an issue since I am planning to install 9.04.
There were a few complains about flash and java plug-ins in Firefox.

I suppose the best option is to try it out and when you run into issues turn to the trusty Ubuntu forums for help.

Ok, ready drive...