XP Pro presently meets all of my needs and thanks to Nick's advice runs FSX and FS9 just great on my system. So far I have detected no practical reason for me to personally upgrade. However, it looks like Microsoft is encouraging me to continue OS upgrades regardless of my personal preferences. In the process of successfully troubleshooting my daughter's computer and going to Microsoft.com for suggestions, I found the following link which tells me that support for XP ended last month:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/end-support-windows-xp-sp2-windows-vista-without-service-packs?os=xpI still am a bit confused. If I am interpreting correctly after more extensive reading, automatic updates will continue by MS (How long I don't know). I have received some updates since the expiration date for support indicated by the referenced end date in the link.Wonder what OS will be next from MS and how long it will be? I may procrastinate (One of my God given talents), bypass the I7 OS and wait for the next MS learning curve headache as long as I can get away with it. Respectfully:RTH

XP Pro presently meets all of my needs and thanks to Nick's advice runs FSX and FS9 just great on my system. So far I have detected no practical reason for me to personally upgrade. However, it looks like Microsoft is encouraging me to continue OS upgrades regardless of my personal preferences. In the process of successfully troubleshooting my daughter's computer and going to Microsoft.com for suggestions, I found the following link which tells me that support for XP ended last month:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/end-support-windows-xp-sp2-windows-vista-without-service-packs?os=xpI still am a bit confused. If I am interpreting correctly after more extensive reading, automatic updates will continue by MS (How long I don't know). I have received some updates since the expiration date for support indicated by the referenced end date in the link.Wonder what OS will be next from MS and how long it will be? I may procrastinate (One of my God given talents), bypass the I7 OS and wait for the next MS learning curve headache as long as I can get away with it. Respectfully:RTH

End of support is for those who have NOT updated to the most recent service packs - SP 3 for Windows XP is the most recent. Have read that Windows XP will be supported until 2014. Not sure about how long VISTA will be supported. View the above link provided by the originator of this post.

Just upgrade to SP3... there will be support for SP3 until the 8th of April 2014.

Windows XP service pack 2 support has ended on 13 July 2010.Windows Vista without service packs has ended on 13 April 2010.As long as you are on Win XP SP3 you will recieve support and updates until 8 April 2014Win XP 64 bit support ( since win XP 64 bit doesn't have SP3 ) will also be available until 8 April 2014.The support for Windows Vista with service packs will end on 11 April 2017.I hope this clears things up

I find it amazing that Microsoft remains somewhat dedicated to Windows XP for so long. We are talking here about an OS from what year? 2000? I sure hope that by the time it is 2014 everybody will have upgraded to something better than Windows XP. or let me put it this way: I hope MS will have released a Windows version that everybody will welcome! Although to be honest, except for two flaws I can't understand (they were there in Windows Vista too...), Windows 7 seems to be a pretty nice OS. Better than XP, anyway...

I find it amazing that Microsoft remains somewhat dedicated to Windows XP for so long.

It is not Microsoft but corporations who are dedicated to XP, and for good reason: It works just fine thanks. As a result MS have no choice no matter how much they may hate it. Things should start to shift ever so slightly with W7 SP1 out next year but even MS have acknowledged that XP is not going anywhere till at least 2014.

Get rid of XP! I understand it "works fine"- but Windows 7 is PHENOMENAL. It is way, way faster than XP. I can cold boot to my desktop in 30 seconds. XP stopped at DirectX 9, and DirectX 11 is out. The Windows 7 Pro OEM license is like $130. Seriously, DO WANT

Get rid of XP!

no

I understand it "works fine"- but Windows 7 is PHENOMENAL.

not what my mom, brother-in-law, and brother-in-law's father say. always fighting the 'system' in order to 'approve' every keystroke and action.

It is way, way faster than XP. I can cold boot to my desktop in 30 seconds.

my FS desktop boots to desktop in about 15 seconds ... 21 processes.my 'work' desktop boots in about 20 second ... 45 processes.my netbook boots in about 30 seconds ... 51 processes (atom processor and the slowest CPU of the group)

XP stopped at DirectX 9, and DirectX 11 is out

did someone make FS9 and FSX a DX11 program and not notify the FS community?--

no

Yes.Please get rid of XP. All the computers at college still use it. It makes me want to kill myself every time I log on. I'm just glad I've got a nice Thinkpad with W7 pro on it so I don't have to touch XP there anymore.

Yes.Please get rid of XP. All the computers at college still use it. It makes me want to kill myself every time I log on. I'm just glad I've got a nice Thinkpad with W7 pro on it so I don't have to touch XP there anymore.

I love XP, works great with my FS9 setup. Most companies and or end users see no need for W7 outside of pretty graphics and more Apple like features. It's great people are finding they only need to upgrade when they themselves feel the need to not some billion dollar corporation...

HelloI have tried twice now to actually get to like W7 but to no avail.Truly horrible OS that just tries to get in your way all the time.XP64 is simple , reliable , runs everything without issue, just what you need fora computer that only runs FSX and FS9.Hopefully next time MS may actually produce a simple OS that stays in the background and just facilitates the running of your applications.W7 looks pretty I will give it that.

I must admit I stuck to XP for a long time, resisting the "evil" Vista. However, now I am 3 months in to using Windows 7 and I have NEVER had to reboot the machine unless an install required it - I am converted !! !! Sorry to see XP support ending but it was always going to go sometime !!G

 

not what my mom, brother-in-law, and brother-in-law's father say.  always fighting the 'system' in order to 'approve' every keystroke and action.

Have they turned off the UAC for Win7 yet. That will solve many of their supposed problems.

 Have they turned off the UAC for Win7 yet. That will solve many of their supposed problems.

They downed it to one ask instead of several per admin required action. It also only affects ADMIN required stuff, not normal running. Unless you are running something as admin or trying to install/uninstall something, you shouldn't even see UAC in 7. If nothing else, even in VISTA you could turn it off.

Thanks folks!So, SP3 is the catch! I thought some such item might be the case as I was still getting automatic updates, but did not read and investigate carefully enough. I guess I installed SP3 through automatic updates some time ago on all household computers in question (four each). I see confirmation of its presence in all of my add/delete provisions. Obviously, this old memory leaves something to be desired. However, a little differently from most MS updates, no date is listed.All the dialogue is interesting, and I certainly concede to each his own, but a boot time of a few seconds gained is not a provision deserving a high $$ upgrade to me personally. In fact, I run everything 24/7 so that is not an issue anyway. Everything seems to be performing swimingly at the present time, particularly with FS9 and FSX (WATCH OUT MURPHY!). I do wish my high speed internet service was a little bit faster, but for sure that is because of the service in my area that leaves something to be desired by all available providers. Somewhere on the internet, I read that we here in Eastern WV are near the bottom of the list for competitive speed. What they advertise and what we get seems to be universally two different things.Again, thanks for the clarification and happy flying!RTH