October 22, 201213 yr Regarding the recent utility for borderless FSX in windows from Overflow. What are the advantages and/or disadvantages for FSX in a full-screen window or in full screen mode? Hugo
October 22, 201213 yr The big difference for me is the smoothness. In light of the vsync tweaks available in my guide and on the forums, I found that windowed mode is still a bit stuttery when compared to full screen mode, which is perfectly smooth when FPS is kept at 30 (according to the laws of vsync tweaks).
October 22, 201213 yr I used to run FSX full-screen only, but eventually gave up since I suffered from the black-screen issue when switching windows. For me the sim is a lot more stable running in windowed-mode. Cheers, Alex
October 22, 201213 yr Actually I haven't run FSX in windowed mode, but I use Prepar3D in windowed mode all the time. I started to use it mainly because of the annoying ATC window flash in fullscreen mode which made ATC pretty much useless and could eventually lead to OOMs. I use autohotkey and macro from library to get "pseudo" fullscreen and it works perfectly. As for performance, I don't notice any differences. I actually like windowed mode more than fullscreen as it is a lot easier to jump to windows and browse internet or put some music playing in the background. As I said, I haven't experienced any sort of negative aspects using windowed mode. If I'd start to use FSX again, I for sure would test the windowed mode first and if I don't notice any negative things It would be my choice, even though ATC Window doesn't cause trouble in FSX.
October 22, 201213 yr I have to agree with Alex, my sim is more stable when I run it in windowed mode, too. Regards, Flo Florian
October 22, 201213 yr Window mode here too. I use 2 monitors and it allows me to use the desktop if needed, as well as better FSX performance for me. One thing to mention though, be sure that the FS window does not touch the taskbar or perfromance will suffer. I move it to my second monitor when flying, you can also set it to 'autohide'. Jay
October 22, 201213 yr Commercial Member Always using windowed mode here too, mainly because it allows me to use my browser while cruising & look for weather and route and similar stuff too.
October 22, 201213 yr Commercial Member I am very interested in trying this new utility as I run in Surround. From my experience one has to run in Window mode with P3D when using Surround (same as FSX), so this could be a nice feature to eliminate the borders. Curious to see what happens to the task bar as mine will no longer "hide" when running Surround. Regarding performance, I cannot detect any difference between Window or Full with P3D. 30FPS is 30PFS either way - no stutters. I too, actually prefer Window mode as it allows me more freedom to work with other items when simming. Intel i9-12900KF, Asus Prime Z690-A MB, 64GB DDR5 6000 RAM, (3) SK hynix M.2 SSD (2TB ea.), 16TB Seagate HDD, Gigabyte GeForce 5080 RTX, Corsair iCUE H70i AIO Liquid Cooler, UHD/Blu-ray Player/Burner (still have lots of CDs, DVDs!) Windows 10, (hold off for now on Win11), EVGA 1300W PSUNetgear 1Gbps modem & router, (3) 27" 1440 wrap-around displaysFull array of Bravo, Saitek and GoFlight hardware for the cockpit. Varjo and HP VR headsets for mixed reality.
October 22, 201213 yr Full screen always. It just seems a little smoother. MSFS Premium Deluxe Edition; Windows 11 Pro, I9-9900k; Asus Maximus XI Hero; Asus TUF RTX3080TI; 32GB G.Skill Ripjaw DDR4 3600; 2X Samsung 1TB 970EVO; NZXT Kraken X63; Seasonic Prime PX-1000, LG 48" C1 Series OLED, Honeycomb Yoke & TQ, CH Rudder Pedals, Logitech G13 Gamepad
October 22, 201213 yr Windowed mode allows users to access other programs like Plan-G while still flying, Or pdf charts of a larger airport for approach runway info etc. I occasionally will do full screen for bush flying especially if I know where I'm at and doing VFR. I'm tuned up so that stutters are almost a never happens experience in either mode. Bryan Wallis aka "fltsimguy" Maple Bay, British Columbia Near CAM3
December 28, 201213 yr Interesting to read all these opinions, when I run P3D in windowed mode I get around 100-120 FPS, in full screen I get only 30-40 FPS!? Any explanations?? I run windows 7 64.
December 28, 201213 yr Windowed mode kills immersion for me, but it is more practical, so I reched a compromise and use an iPad for map, checlists, charts, surf the net and play music. Simmerhead - Making the virtual skies unsafe since 1987!
December 28, 201213 yr In windowed-mode .. be sure to right click the taskbar and autohide under properties menu
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