Which version of Win 7 should I be looking for?

[Noel 4,499]

Seems some are believing Win 7 is superior to Vista 64 for FSX. I don't know if that is a consensus opinion, but I'm wondering if I did upgrade to Win 7 64, which version is needed for me?Noel

[BMG50 9]

Seems some are believing Win 7 is superior to Vista 64 for FSX. I don't know if that is a consensus opinion, but I'm wondering if I did upgrade to Win 7 64, which version is needed for me?Noel

I recently upgraded my Vista 64b to W7 64b with the Home Premium version.......I have been working on FSX for 3 years,including building 3 rigs...New rig is i7 920 @3.9,GTX285SC, P6T Deluxe V2 mobo.... W7 64 is the best of the OS,s I have used...FSX is now running well,but it is a combination of things,not just an OS ....Overclocking was a big benifit

[sargeski 16]

Noel,If this is going to be an FSX only PC, upgrade to XP X64.

[jjjallen 37]

Home Premium 64bit. Unless you need to remote desktop into work then get Professional. Windows 7 has significant advances in the way threading is scheduled and is the best OS Microsoft has ever produced. FSX rocks on Win 7!jja

[Noel 4,499]

Home Premium 64bit. Unless you need to remote desktop into work then get Professional. Windows 7 has significant advances in the way threading is scheduled and is the best OS Microsoft has ever produced. FSX rocks on Win 7!jja

Tell me how you really feel! OK, I'll look into Home Premium 64-bit.One more thing. I now have Vista 64 installed, and have installed FSX on separate drive F:. I will be installing Win 7 on a 3rd drive, fresh. I guess there really is no way to access FSX on the drive F: is there, without installing FSX on drive F: with a different folder name in the new Win 7 installation. True?

[jjjallen 37]

Tell me how you really feel! OK, I'll look into Home Premium 64-bit.One more thing. I now have Vista 64 installed, and have installed FSX on separate drive F:. I will be installing Win 7 on a 3rd drive, fresh. I guess there really is no way to access FSX on the drive F: is there, without installing FSX on drive F: with a different folder name in the new Win 7 installation. True?

Are you worried about upgrading? Just install on your new drive and have your Vista key handy. I have the RC installed and will do a fresh upgrade when the new Micron SSD's come out. I think that I saw the Pro upgrade online for $100 and the full was about $120.jja

[BMG50 9]

I installed W7 on a separate drive from my Vista 64 and dual booted.....Did not take very long before I realized that I would NEVER need Vista again ..Deleted Vista 64 and Vista 32 and now I have yet another hd for storage...One thing I have noticed is that with Vista,I was getting updates pretty regularly ,but with Win 7, only 1-2....They seem to have gotten it right...

[Noel 4,499]

I installed W7 on a separate drive from my Vista 64 and dual booted.....Did not take very long before I realized that I would NEVER need Vista again ..Deleted Vista 64 and Vista 32 and now I have yet another hd for storage...One thing I have noticed is that with Vista,I was getting updates pretty regularly ,but with Win 7, only 1-2....They seem to have gotten it right...

Yes, I'm sure, however it is primarily the reinstalling of everything that has me taking my time on this. Sounds like it is a very good OS and I will be moving to it at some point. Vista 64 is only used for FSX, sadly. I know I don't like certain features in it, and I hope W7 addresses those. I do not like the confusing (to me) way Explorer works compared to all former versions of W. But it has worked well for FSX. I must keep XP on one drive as well.

[jjjallen 37]

Noel,If this is going to be an FSX only PC, upgrade to XP X64.

I forgot to add that Win 7 Ultimate has an XP compatibility mode (why not in the other versions I don't know) that doesn't seem to help nor hurt FSX performance.jja

[DarkCharizma 10]

I forgot to add that Win 7 Ultimate has an XP compatibility mode (why not in the other versions I don't know) that doesn't seem to help nor hurt FSX performance.

If you're talking about XP Mode, which is available only for Professional and Ultimate, where Windows XP run in a Virtual Machine, it would seriously hurt FSX performance to run FSX in the Virtual Machine. It's intended purpose is to enable the use of program that don't work in newer version of Windows. I haven't personally tried running FSX in any Virtual Machine, but it won't run good, since it would be running on simulated hardware.If you are talking about the compatibility mode that you can set in the properties of an .exe, then that is available to all Windows 7 versions (and Vista for that matter).

[some1 65]

The XP mode that can be found in Pro and Ultimate is useless for anything 3D, because it emulates computer with S3 Trio graphics card. You can't even run FSX (or FS9, or any 3D game if that matters) in XP mode. So I wouldn't bother about that.

[Noel 4,499]

I forgot to add that Win 7 Ultimate has an XP compatibility mode (why not in the other versions I don't know) that doesn't seem to help nor hurt FSX performance.jja

Thanks for that tidbit, however I have an issue that demands I continue XP in its exact current installation, so to maintain it I must have a cloned copy available at all times, else I will lose an application (will become unlicensable and therefore inactive) if my current install EVER fails. I had to buy a sep drive because of this! Damn TASCAM! THey are now stopping reissuing of licenses for Gigastudio products so my only recourse is to keep a clone copy.

[Guest UlfB]

FSX rocks on Win 7!

Compared to Vista or XP?Going from Win XP 64 or Vista 64 to Win7 64 won't make any significant difference for FSX. If you find Win7 to be a lot faster, that's because you had a badly configured and tuned XP or Vista.Good article at AnandTech: http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=3666&p=1Read it!