Mean Aerodynamic Chord

Sounds like good 'ol Microsoft will restrict the simulator's distribution to the W10 "Windows Store", which is garbage, full of useless "apps" for phones. Just yesterday, the developers of Quantum Break announced the same thing. M$ must be paying some good $$$$ for that. It's funny since Phil Spencer promised that MS is not interested in competing with Steam, yet here they are, restricting your choice.

When asked for release date and pre-release information for a game, the CEO of TakeTwo simply said: "We're not going to announce it, we're not going to announce when we are going to announce it, and we are not going to announce a strategy about announcing it or about when we are going to announce it either, or about the announcement strategy surrounding the announcement of the strategy."

To be honest, we're talking about security/1st party support, not compatibility. Of course Skylake will be compatible with 8.1, 7, Vista, XP, and prior if you want it to be.

If I were you, don't do an upgrade. Do a clean install, make sure to "customise settings" during the initial setup, and disable all the privacy-related settings that send data. After you're in the OS, make sure you're not connected to the internet and on another computer, download all the drivers you need (including chipset, internet, audio, etc.). Yes, the latest Nvidia drivers are fine, and yes, the latest Saitek drivers are fine as well. Just check their respective websites and your motherboard website and download from there. Put those files on a USB and install from there. If you don't get the drivers onto a USB and install from there, once you connect to the internet, they will be automatically downloaded from Windows Update, which is not recommended.

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/15989-device-driver-automatic-installation-turn-off-windows-10-a.html#option1 "Defer upgrades" stops major Windows revisions, like the Novemever update 1511, from installing immediately after release. It doesn't stop security updates or driver updates.

I don't know anyone in the world who chooses the "Install updates automatically" option. On my W8.1 laptop, I have it set to "Check for updates but let me choose to install them". Nothing has changed. No nagging nor "recommended upgrade" nor anything.

Yes

. Defender automatically turns off when you install another AV. Use this tool to stop the printer driver from trying to install: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930?utm_source=twitter Then, go here to stop future driver updates through Win Update:

Can't you disable Defender through Services.msc? There's two settings in there for Defender, "Windows Defender Network Inspection Service" and "Windows Defender Service". Try disabling both. Also, since you're on Enterprise, perhaps there's a setting in the GPE. Check there. You're right, it's on by default. But thankfully on the new November update 1511, MS added an option during install for this, so that's good. (Make sure to click "customise settings" instead of "express settings") There's no such thing as a "free" version. W10 Home and W10 Pro and W10 Enterprise are all paid OS's and you get a legitimate license when you upgrade.

I think the upgrade is free because MS wants as many people as possible to be on a platform that has access to the "Windows app Store". Since W8 had it but not W7, the offer was probably extended to W7 so that as many people as possible would be exposed to their "mobile apps" and "app store", which for some reason, MS thinks are wonderful on a desktop computer. The "app store" is rubbish and it's the first thing I always disable when setting up W10. I suppose the "mobile app world" is where MS sees their future.

What? MS has the ISO for Windows 10 available here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 Download the tool, choose "Create installation media", and then choose whether you want to create a DVD or bootable USB installation. Also, you don't have to reinstall Windows 7 then upgrade again to reinstall Windows 10. Once you do the upgrade at least once and you activate Windows, your motherboard + CPU combination will be authorised, and you can reinstall however many items you want without having to do the upgrade again. This means you can also do a clean install. XP compatability mode is still there...

I agree that in some cases, forced updates in W10 are actually a really good idea (think: computer illiterate relatives that always ask for your help during the holidays with their "slow" computers!). However, let's be honest. Do Microsoft's security updates really fix anything? Have you ever read the security bulletins on the TechNet website? The security updates honestly only prevent very very improbable situations, and I assume most users with common sense don't mess around with those situations that are affected. Of course, I agree that it's important to have all the latest security updates installed, but to me, these "security updates" are mostly placebo. (which is why I don't see the problem with an XP machine with all updates ever released installed, a good antivirus, and a modern web browser). Now of course, in W10, I highly recommend you don't "defer upgrades", since the last major update, Version 1511 "service pack", was a great improvement to RTM.

Not sure what this means, but Microsoft today announced that they're really, really desperate to get people to move to Windows 10: http://www.winbeta.org/news/microsoft-clarifies-support-for-silicon-innovations-enterprises-and-the-best-windows-10-experience See the original post on their blog here: https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2016/01/15/windows-10-embracing-silicon-innovation/ According to them, Windows 7 and even 8.1 are too old to even fully support and take advantage of Skylake. In addition, Skylake apparently won't be supported past July 17, 2017 on W7 or W8.1 systems. Your thoughts?

You might not have problems but you will have security risks. Coming up on 12 Jan. 2016, MS will no longer update versions of IE that are not the latest for whichever OS you have. IE11 for W7, W8, and W10, or IE9 for Vista will be the only versions supported. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle#gp/Microsoft-Internet-Explorer

I've only played a bit, but I am definitely enjoying PCARS. I'm driving using an Xbox 360 controller... Not the most accurate thing in the world, but good enough for PCARS and Euro Truck Simulator. The game is definitely very detailed, with great sound, and many things to do. Whilst the sim is actually very good, I'm a bit skeptical of the marketing practices by WoMD. I bought the sim about 30 minutes before the Steam summer sale ended. About an hour after the summer sale ended, WoMD announces PCARS 2 (the sequel). Perfect timing, eh? I don't know if you care anymore since the sale is over, but I don't think the 5770 would be good enough. Check out this video:

Open the GPE and navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update. Double click on "Configure Automatic Updates", and under "Configure automatic updating", choose which one you want. Save the setting and restart your computer. The tool can be downloaded here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930

I have a Sandy Bridge i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz and I've been using W10 fine since August. The only "issue" I have is Task Manager displaying an incorrect clock speed. It says I'm running the CPU at 6.19GHz, but one could only dream of that. If you open the Task Manager to the default screen (first tab), you can see which program is using the CPU. Click "CPU" near the top and it will sort in descending order. You should see whatever is using 100% of the processor. Also, make sure your BIOS is up to date (especially if you have an older processor like Sandy Bridge. Back up first), and update all your other drivers.

You don’t need to uninstall anything. Just click “Upgrade now” if you have the “Get Windows 10” icon in your taskbar, if not, download this tool and click “Upgrade this PC”: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Interesting, I'm using the MD11 just fine in Windows 10 without any modifications.

I highly doubt they're interested in providing an actual flight simulator. I think Dovetail's Flight Simulator will go the way of MS Flight...

Yes? Why wouldn't it? I'm using it just fine in W10. Either Microsoft hasn't updated that page yet, or they're purposely excluding W10 to make people think that they need to use M$'s proprietary "app store" to find software. BTW. All of MS's software worms in W10, from Office 95 to Windows Movie Maker to MS Money.

I think Windows Live Mail is quite nice, it's an excellent email client (similar to Outlook Express in functionality, but much better looking), and a Calendar, and a RSS Feeds reader, and a Contact manager.

The Windows Calendar in Vista was removed in Windows 7. Windows 10 does have a built in "Calendar app", but it's rubbish. Download Windows Live Mail here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/essentials And import your Windows Calendar file to WLM.

Which calendar program did you use? Outlook?

Remember that after you upgrade, your entire W7 installation will be kept as a backup for 30 days, should you want to go back. There's no risk, to be honest.