Hi all,As you may have noticed from my signature, I am coming from a Mac background (although I was a PC Network Consultant in a past life), but I am looking into setting up a PC for gaming and simming.So, what version of Windows are the "hardware" simmers using?If I do get into Windows based simming, I will definitely want to get into the hardware / flightdeck building hobby soon after, and I want to make sure that I don't end up with a version of windows that may not be well suited to running the sim software and interfacing with hardwareCheers---John R. SippyChicago, IL, USAPowerMacG4 -Dual 5001024MB RAMnVidiaGF2 - 32MB

I'm running Windows XP Pro myself and I'm pretty sure most people are too?Regards,BRAD HELLER.

>I'm running Windows XP Pro myself and I'm pretty sure most>people are too?>>Regards,>BRAD HELLER.XP or Win2000 are more stable than the win9x variants.The only windows computer here runs Windows2000. It's pretty good so far, but I guess XP might be the way to go these days, and it is likely you get it with the PC. I'd go with XP Pro I guess, if I was to choose a windows to install today. It's less braindead in the "woo, my usb device just works without drivers and rebooting" -sense as well, so it might cause you a bit less gray hair after your OSX Panther enjoyment ;-)I was sorta thinking about X-Plane and USB once, one could do a mac-based cockpit as well, but the sorry fact is that FS200X has just much more of all that "community" stuff going on. Not that X-plane doesnt, but for example most airports in Finland can be found as freeware add-on scenery already, we are doing a whole-country wide replacement coastline/lake/road/railroad/powerline/landclass scenery.. it rules for VFR flying really. And there's stuff like Vatsim and such. Sadly stuff just happens first (or solely) on x86/Windows platform.Welcome to the bunch. Search the archives and ask the questions - and plan well. Good luck! :)Oh, and get your machine firewalled well, and get virus protection. And dont surf the web with IE at all. My windows machine is just for flight simming and it has been safe from all that crap because I do email and surfing on the linux box. IE is just like a piece of cheese, full of holes. IF I have to browse the web with the windows machine, I use Mozilla Firebird rather than IE whenever I can.Tuomas