Apple Core reader Robert Nicholson notes that there’s another way to boot into the

64-bit version of Snow Leopard — by setting the nvram paramters (similar to verbos
e booting) as noted on My Grotto:
Print nvram settings
# nvram -p
Set boot-args to use 64 bit kernel
# nvram boot-args="arch=x86_64"

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Hold 6 and 4 keys at boot to enable 64-bit Snow Leopard (Updated)
As I mentioned in a post last night, the latest developer release of Snow Leopar
d, a.k.a. Mac OS 10.6 (build 10A432, presumed to be GM) doesn’t automatically boot
into the 64-bit kernel except on an Xserve. To boot into 64-bit on any other Ma
c you must hold down the “6″ and “4″ keys at boot.
Update: There’s a solution to the “64 finger salute” at the end of this post…
Here’s how to tell if you’ve successfully loaded the 64-bit kernel in Snow Leopard:
1.Launch System Profiler (Applications > Utilities > System Profiler or About Th
is Mac > More Info…)
2.Click on the “Software” heading in the left pane
3.Check the “64-bit Kernel and Extensions” line for a Yes or a No.
This is what it looks like in 32-bit:
This is what it looks like when the 64-bit kernel and extensions are loaded:

As I posted yesterday, you can check to see if your Mac has the 64-bit EFI (requ
ired to load the 64-bit kernel) by entering the following command in Terminal:
ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi
It will return either “EFI32″ or “EFI64.”
According to Apple all system applications except DVD Player, Front Row, Grapher
, and iTunes have been rewritten in 64-bit. All we need now is for third-party d
evelopers like Mozilla, Microsoft and Adobe (hint, hint!) to start releasing 64-
bit apps :)
What applications do you want to go 64-bit first?
Update: If you’re not a fan of having to remember to hold down the “6″ and “4″ keys each t
ime you re-boot, there’s a fix courtesy of Netkas.org:
Edit this file:
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist
Change this:
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string></string>
To this:
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>arch=x86_64</string>
Boots into the 64-bit kernel like a charm every time on my MBP.