Hello,My system: Athlon XP 2000512mb PC2100 266GF4ti4200 128mbDetonator 40.52I first installed XP, then FS2002, it was running fine until I installed SP1, after SP1 I got lockups and video problems in FS2002, I didn't found a fix, so...I installed win2000, SP3 and FS2002, it runs fine, but I have the impressions that FS was running a little better in XP.Please tell me what you think before I install XP again :)Thanks a lot,Ulisses

Ulisses, I did a xp pro install/upgrade 98SE and installed the SP1 and have not had a problem with anything. If you are going to reformat anyway, maybe try to upgrade xp before any other software is put on.My system:AMD 2100xp1 gig ddr2700GeforceTi4600... Like the 30.87 driversAbit kx7-333 Mobo

A lot of people are having problems with the XP upgrade, especially with FS2002.XP still runs better FS2002 than Win2000 does. Not saying it;'s the better operating system, just better for FS2002.If you don't need the patch, just don't use it.RonCVA1701

I've had Windows XP for about 8 months, and absoulutely loved it. I upgraded from Windows ME on my old rig. In the 8 months, I've had XP on two different systems, and neither one of them has ever locked up on me. FS2k2 also runs great. I highly recommend XP. :-)Ryan-Flightpro08 :-cool VATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Controller 1 (C-1)SAN TRACON Lead [link:www.taxiwaysigns.com]Taxiwaysigns.com Scenery Designerhttp://members.cox.net/santracon/images/san_logo.jpg-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 30.30 Drivers)512MB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition SP1*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*3dMark2001SE Score: 11298

I heard some comments about win2000 and multiple displays, something about better open-gl performance to use an extra monitor like project magenta.I installed updated drivers in win2000 and FS looks good, nice graphics with 40.52, texture sharpening, etc...running in 1280x1024.But I'm still think in give another try to XP, anyway I reach 9500 in 3DMark 2001, GF4ti4200 128mb and Athlon XP2000, I was expecting more :)Thanks for all the info,Ulisses

You can't run the 40.52's and Windows XP SP1 on most GF4 cards. You need to install the 40.72's and the manually turn Anti-Aliasing ON from the driver options, and turn it OFF in Flight Simulator. Turn OFF anisotropic filtering and do NOT check the option for Texture Sharpening (which is just another option that enables anisotropic filtering).This has to do with changes that were made between DirectX 8.1a and 8.1b. Windows XP SP1 introduces 8.1b.J

oh man.....texture sharpening is so good !Ulisses

You get exactly the same effect from enabling anisotropic filtering. All Texture Sharpening does is double your current level of anisotropy.It looks really good, but doesn't work well (i.e. causes unpleasant artifacting) with XP SP1 installed - at least on most GF4 cards. An alternative, of course, is to bag SP1 altogether and simply apply all the hotfixes to the retail release of Windows XP.J

XP is a dumbed down, pretty, sub-version of Win2000 professional. I personally have used both for FS2002 and find Win2K to run much smoother then XP Pro/Home. But each system is different so I would recommend that if you reformat go with whichever one you are more comfortable with. I have also heard many bads things about SP1 for XP and FS2002 so in the future you may want to stray away from it. Win2K has just been updated with the release of SP3 and it is fantastic :)But to each his own :)Shane

"dumbed down"? I don't know if I agree with that. It's the same da*n kernel...if anything it's "dumbed up". W2K Pro, if anything, is a much leaner lightweight version of XP...XP is mostly glamour and glitz "on top of" the W2K architecture - it most definitely is not a "subset" of W2K. That much is evident from its installation and memory footprint. Alot of people don't care for the 1GB footprint of XP (not to mention the resources it consumes), but it does offer some nice extensions which aren't present in W2K. It is far more user-friendly and multimedia-oriented than W2K was ever designed to be and is optimized for such use. It is the union of the Windows 9x feature set and the ever-reliable NT architecture.For a family entertainment PC, provided you have the hardware, I have to recommend XP over 2K. The benchmarks alone will warrant this much. But for business applications and for someone looking for that rock-solid field-tested no-frills desktop platform, as you say, W2K SP3 is pretty da*n solid. XP doesn't have the maturity that W2K has, however (although in my experience it's been equally reliable). I think by this time next year, after a couple more service packs, a good portion of the IT world will be making the transition to XP especially as Microsoft's .NET server platform (Microsoft's J2EE/Java Killer) gains momentum. Time will tell, I s'pose.J

The only reason I should use WIn XP is to try a performance improvement and better interface.I installed 2000 SP3 and it's very stable, the performance is good, I'm just wondering if I can get any improvement using XP.I had big trouble with XP SP1, do I really need it ?Or can I stay with basic XP install ?I saw some small applications that run in 98/2000 but not in XP, even with emulations...Thanks again,Ulisses

If you're happy with Windows 2000 SP3, stick with it. It's a rock solid OS and you won't go wrong. You also have the assurance that this OS has been operating "in the field" for almost 3 years now. Furthermore, it is unlikely you will realize a huge performance boost in FS with XP installed. I did get a slight performance boost in XP, but nothing that's going to leave your jaw on the table.If you are hooked on XP and want the additional features XP offers then just go for the basic XP install w/ hotfixes. I'm not sure how long MS will support that configuration however through WindowsUpdate. That aside, I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe XP SP1 is superior to a fully patched basic XP install. Long term, that reasoning may not hold.You can always wait for XP SP2, or install SP1 at a later time (it comes with a rollback/uninstall feature).J

I just installed XP again...Running detonator 40.52 in 3DMark2001:win2000: 9600winXP: 9200Forgeting this difference, the FS in XP is running fine, textures are great, performance is good.I'm trying to use 2 monitors in my GF4Ti and XP has better features to handle 2 monitors....so I'll keep it.Anyone running Project Magenta in the same FS computer in the 2nd monitor...just curious....I could do it here, but I got some performance drop inside FS.Thanks,Ulisses