XP to W7? I don't think so!

[Cruachan 705]

Hi,http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369575,00.aspLOL, this is funny. The more I read tripe like this the more I feel like digging my heels in just to annoy these sad misguided souls. Methinks they protesteth far too much. Some of what he says may indeed be true, but clearly it's in their commercial interests for everyone to make the move so it must be quite worrying, if not annoying, to be faced with this persistent huge resistance to change.The reality is that for the reluctant majority Windows XP, without question, continues to satisfy our needs perfectly well. It may be 'old', but it is tried and trusted, we know it well and it continues to run all the software we have come to rely on over the past few years.Microsoft may not like it but they recognize this reality.I've said it before and I'll now say it again: in my opinion Microsoft shot itself in the foot when they refused to provide a painless upgrade path for XP users just as they did for Vista. Don't tell me that it was beyond their coding genius to accomplish this. They simply misread the situation and became entrenched within a policy that effectively told XP users that we were no longer welcome in their family. Well tough, I say. Now you have to accept the consequences of your actions.Windows 7 does incorporate new technologies, but how many of us really need what it has to offer right now? Yes, in time I will make the move along with everyone else, but I'm really tired of people telling me that this is something I must do now or risk falling foul of some dreadful binary catastrophe. It's perhaps interesting to note that a new magazine has appeared on the shelves recently and, yes, its devoted to the needs of Windows XP users rather than Windows 7. What does that say to the rest of us?Mike

[Glynn 405]

Hi,http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369575,00.aspLOL, this is funny. The more I read tripe like this the more I feel like digging my heels in just to annoy these sad misguided souls. Methinks they protesteth far too much. Some of what he says may indeed be true, but clearly it's in their commercial interests for everyone to make the move so it must be quite worrying, if not annoying, to be faced with this persistent huge resistance to change.The reality is that for the reluctant majority Windows XP, without question, continues to satisfy our needs perfectly well. It may be 'old', but it is tried and trusted, we know it well and it continues to run all the software we have come to rely on over the past few years.Microsoft may not like it but they recognize this reality.I've said it before and I'll now say it again: in my opinion Microsoft shot itself in the foot when they refused to provide a painless upgrade path for XP users just as they did for Vista. Don't tell me that it was beyond their coding genius to accomplish this. They simply misread the situation and became entrenched within a policy that effectively told XP users that we were no longer welcome in their family. Well tough, I say. Now you have to accept the consequences of your actions.Windows 7 does incorporate new technologies, but how many of us really need what it has to offer right now? Yes, in time I will make the move along with everyone else, but I'm really tired of people telling me that this is something I must do now or risk falling foul of some dreadful binary catastrophe. It's perhaps interesting to note that a new magazine has appeared on the shelves recently and, yes, its devoted to the needs of Windows XP users rather than Windows 7. What does that say to the rest of us?Mike

HelloWell saidI own (since release day) win7-64bit, I really wanted to like and find value in my new purchase and I do admit there are some really nice things in W7 such as the search function from the start menu.But for a box that only runs FS9 and FSX there is no compelling reason to move from XP 64.It is no faster, runs no FS addons betterHas incompatibilities with FS9 and FSX, mostly minor but why would I want any at all?The constant overbearing security, this is an system to run my Sim not mission control, if S**t happens I will just reload my last image so nothing but a few configuration changes lost.Networking between W7 and XP can be a pain, networking can be a big enough pain without some of the nonsense W7 throws up.MS flight! , the lack of Trim for SSD's , better drivers for when I buy a new Graphics card will probably force me over to W7 but for now I will stick with XP64

[Guest firehawk44]

HelloWell saidI own (since release day) win7-64bit, I really wanted to like and find value in my new purchase and I do admit there are some really nice things in W7 such as the search function from the start menu.But for a box that only runs FS9 and FSX there is no compelling reason to move from XP 64.It is no faster, runs no FS addons betterHas incompatibilities with FS9 and FSX, mostly minor but why would I want any at all?The constant overbearing security, this is an system to run my Sim not mission control, if S**t happens I will just reload my last image so nothing but a few configuration changes lost.Networking between W7 and XP can be a pain, networking can be a big enough pain without some of the nonsense W7 throws up.MS flight! , the lack of Trim for SSD's , better drivers for when I buy a new Graphics card will probably force me over to W7 but for now I will stick with XP64

Well stated too Mad Dog. Mike made some excellent, well-articulated points but I too upgraded to Win7 on release date. I suspect if there was no or less than $50 cost to upgrade to Windows 7, this discussion would not exist. I think most people reel at the cost of upgrading their OS every 3 years or so. I do too but still do it. I hate buying a new car every few years too but I like the new technology they have put into the paints, the designs, and the new electronic technologies and conveniences. I remember when XP was first released and all the grumbling about this new OS (the biggest pain for me was its lack of memory management and having to enable the /3GB switch for 32 bit systems). The same grumbling happened with Vista and now Windows 7. Microsoft just can't win. But I really don't see a lot of grumbling with Windows 7 users or at least not as much as there was with Vista users. If you know how to control the security features and use the automatic Windows Update program, Windows 7 works great with new and old programs, like FSX and FS9, and Microsoft continues to update the program constantly to improve features. Looking forward to buying Windows 8 sometime in the near future!Best regards,Jim

[Clutch Cargo 384]

Yes, I too like XP but there comes a time when it's best to move on. Besides just the software you need to consider the hardware. For example I have two laptops now running windows 7 and had them connected via a old "XP era" cisco router (let's just say it was so old the Cisco support tech did not even have it in his database anymore). Why shouldn't that work though, I thought to myself. But was consistently getting disconnected from websites and running 'homegroup' was flaky. Upgraded to a new "Win7" certified Cisco router and "bam" everything works and works fast.I've had XP since day one so 10 years is a pretty good run. I still have an XP desktop all set up for my older flightsim version but I am happy with my transition finally to win7 .

[ExNusquam 11]

I had to chuckle to myself when I read the bit about "aero" interface as a great advantage over XP. I run W7 in windows classic mode! Overall, I do like windows 7 more. It's faster, and file sharing and networking is a bit easier to do. However, I have never had an issue with either of those things on XP, and XP is the most stable OS I have ever seen. Not only does it never crash, almost every piece of software out there has listed compatibility with it. (Which is probably why businesses still use it) Compatibility is the reason I run a dual boot, with FS9 on XP, since some addons have issues with it.

[mgh 89]

I still use XP togerther with Office 2000. Why? because it does everything I want it to - Word creates my documents, Excel my spread sheets, PowerPoint my presentations etc. No doubt windows 7 and the latest Office suite offer more "bells and whistles" but as I doubt I've made full use of these on my obsolescent system what's the point in spending money to change to get more "bells and whistles" I'll never use. I shall only upgrade when I have to buy a new PC and have no choice.

[Guest veeray]

Woww.. too me that sounded like "*rant* *rant*... I'll buy it when I can afford it...."

[Guest simmer9304]

Actually regarding compatibility with FS9 and FSX the best solution I've found for both is not to use any compatibility mode. When I ran FS9 in compatibility mode there would be small oddities like whenever I pull up the kneeboard the screen would go black first, slow menu loading times, etc. Now it's only got visual themes and desktop composition disabled and almost all quirks are gone! Just gotta remember to pull up the flight planner if I want to minimise while on the main page or things get funky.Windows 7 takes a few weeks of adjustment but overall I think it's a fine OS. This is coming from somebody who thought Windows 98 was better than sliced bread when it came out.

[Glynn 405]

Now it's only got visual themes and desktop composition disabled and almost all quirks are gone! Just gotta remember to pull up the flight planner if I want to minimise while on the main page or things get funky.

Hello So there we have it, for most purposes the best OS MS have produced just not fully compatible as an OS to run the Sim on.Yet XP64 is fully compatible easily as fast and stable, I guess folks will put up with little quirks to run the latest and greatest.For an all in one PC that has to do everything then I see W764 as the best choice.For a box that only runs the Sim I am not to sure.

[Mace 1,902]

Hello So there we have it, for most purposes the best OS MS have produced just not fully compatible as an OS to run the Sim on.Yet XP64 is fully compatible easily as fast and stable, I guess folks will put up with little quirks to run the latest and greatest.For an all in one PC that has to do everything then I see W764 as the best choice.For a box that only runs the Sim I am not to sure.

Is there a problem between Win7 64-bit, and FSX? If there is, let me know, I am contemplating changing my OS on my FS machine (currently Vista64).

[MrSpeaker 122]

I had to chuckle to myself when I read the bit about "aero" interface as a great advantage over XP. I run W7 in windows classic mode! Overall, I do like windows 7 more. It's faster, and file sharing and networking is a bit easier to do. However, I have never had an issue with either of those things on XP, and XP is the most stable OS I have ever seen. Not only does it never crash, almost every piece of software out there has listed compatibility with it. (Which is probably why businesses still use it) Compatibility is the reason I run a dual boot, with FS9 on XP, since some addons have issues with it.

Thats so funny, the first thing I did when I got W7 was to change to the windows classic theme. Now that being said I still use XP on my other PC and my laptop but some things I really like about W7 coming from XP is being able to shrink and manage partitions and disks on the fly, I also love the ability to create a system image, I do this after I get a FSX set up perfectly. ( I know with xp there is 3rd party appsthat can do all of this) Anyways I'm loving W7 but in all honesty for FSX/FS9 I see no real improvement in performance coming from XP 64 to W7.

[z4me 0]

I made a number of upgrades and decided that win7-64 would be a good idea, too.IMO upgrading from XP-FS9 to WIN7-64 FSX has made my flight sim so much better, at least for me.