I am getting a new computer that has an ATI HD 4860 in it, and was wondering if I should upgrade my Win 32 system to take advantage of DX 10 on the card. This is the only reason to upgrade, as the computer is an iMac and I use the Mac OSX for all my regular computing needs, but I boot into windows for flight sim and steam games.Specs will be: i7 quad core 2.66, 8 G ram. Does either win XP or win 7 take full use of the quad core technology and hyperthreading?

For DX10 specifically, no. While some users prefer the DX10 appearance, understand that the DX10 functionality in FSX is pretty much a "preview". It's beta-level code, unrefined and still has some glitches to it. I don't think upgrading your Windows side of the computer to Vista or W7 will be worth the money or effort if you are doing it just for DX10. Some users power through those glitches because some of the visuals appeal to them more than the bugs detract from the experience. Most users though remain on the default DX9-level platform as it performs without the problems (bugs and/or compatability). -Greg