Windows 7 or 8

[Johncc]

Hi all.

I have a top end PC and am flying FSX (darn't gp to P3d as all my controllers are Saitek and I only fly a DC3.) I have a 3 screen set up. On tuesday 26/08/14 I am having a GTX 780 graphics card put in.

This I hope will get the best out of the excellent Orbx scenery that I have (England Wales with patches) Global base. May get Scotland one day. So big question Windows 7XP or Windows 8.1? Currently on Windows 8.1. Need the answer before Tuesday morning please.

Hopefully John 

[Triplane]

No question in my mind:  64-bit Windows 7.  More stable and lower overhead. Probably the best OS for FSX in still Windows XP but, for practical reasons, it's no longer a viable choice.

 

Doug

[Matthew Kane]

I would go with WIndows 7 64-bit as well. FSX and Addon's were designed with Windows XP and Vista in mind and tested thoroughly on those type systems, Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista with improvements based on customer feedback at that time.....Windows 8 is something that came along after Windows 7 and after MS got rid of ACES and any real future commitments to Flight Sims so it is uncharted territory so to speak. 

 

Some people don't have a problem with Windows 8 and FSX but it is a bit more tedious compared to Windows 7. I did do a Beta Test for Windows 8 and didn't care for it

[Guest]

W9 is for next year

[Pete H]

Go with Windows 8 - mainly due to the fact that Windows 7 (Home Premium edition, the standard consumer version) is limited to using 16 GB of RAM - which, although not so much of a problem now, could become a limiting factor when considering the future 64-bit P3D.

Also, Windows 7 support (i.e. free updates) ends in January 2015.

If you go with Windows 8, I would highly recommend a really great (and cheap) piece of software called Stardock Start 8, which adds the classic Start Menu to Windows 8, effectively making it operate exactly the same as Windows 7.

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

I read a lot of bad reviews about Windows 8, but once you get rid of those tablet-style tiles and replace them with the Start Menu (using Start 8 ), I have found it to be a great OS - I actually prefer it to Win 7 now.

[Aussieflyer38]

I have a fairly new rig, less than twelve months old. It came with Win 8 which I wasn't all that happy about, but once I got used to where to find everything I haven't had a problem. FSX runs fine and a couple of problems I had turned out to be with FSX not Win 8, and as Pete said, 7 is on the way out. I also have Stardock which works great. I'm not saying I'm completely with Win 8 but its the future. Somewhere along the way, Win 7 users are going to have to change as this is the way MS are going. Also you still have the old Desktop with Computer, Documents, Pictures etc.  

 

Don  

[Bruce Hamilton]

Also, Windows 7 support (i.e. free updates) ends in January 2015.

 

Then I guess we'll just have to live with no further updates. 

[Spirit Flyer]

Love windows 8.1 with Windows 7 emulation. Works great with P3D v2.3.

[spirit_66]

Go for Windows 8.1. Nothing better to get.

Spirit

[Culley44]

windows 7 pro until windows 9, it supports up to 192 gigs of ram, i jumped over windows 8 from all the problems, just my opinion.

[Jack the Swede in Spain]

Well I did convert fron WIN7-64 to WIN8.1-64 but I regret it. 

[wout123]

Well for me, win 8.1

 

I say it runs a tad smoother, they(MS) changed the way the video is handled, resulting in for me smoother performance.

And yes, i was not happy at first (metro interface), but thats easy to pass over.I use classic shell.

 

I heard someone say win 7 has lower overhead, i say its the other way round here, definately.

A lot depends maybe on your flight hardware, but i think all issues with older hardware have been solved by now(?).

 

In the end..i dont really think it makes that much difference.....maybe get the cheapest one? heheh

 

Greetings Wouter

[Matthew Kane]

Then I guess we'll just have to live with no further updates. 

 

I always laugh when people talk about End Of Support like that is a doomsday scenario...I could get out my old Pentium computer with Windows 95 and Flight Simulator 95 and it works just as good today as it did back in 1995, blue screens and all 

[spirit_66]

It's amazing what people tell you about Windows 8/8.1 without any first-hand knowledge of this system. They avoid to give any details and descriptions about any negative aspects, mentioning only global discredits what they got from hearsay.

Spirit

[penta_a]

Had to go back from Win8.1 64bit to Win7 64Bit because of;

1- Joystick connection gets lost during flight (can be solved by FSUIPC but I did not like it's outcome).

2- I have 3 Dell monitors (27" 2560X1440) in portrait mode, P3D does not span over all monitors in windowed or full window mode (they say it's nVidia driver problem) but it works perfect on Win64.

3- Ultimate Traffic 2 does not work for me under Win8/8.1 (some other people reported it's working for them).

 

Those are my three major issues with Win8.1 64bit, other than that every things works as it should.

 

Wish you best of luck.

[Greggy_D]

Also, Windows 7 support (i.e. free updates) ends in January 2015.

Not quite. Free updates are provided until Jan 14, 2020 for Windows 7.

[flyingsub]

Just to confuse things Windows 9 is coming!!

 

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/windows-9-release-date-news-and-rumours-1029245

 

[Museumkeeper]

Hi all

My pennies worth.

I have been dabling with computers for thirty years now and if I had adopted the attitude of not being acceptable to change, I would be trying to use a flight sim on a Sinclair ZX81.

Change, when it comes, always brings with it problems but it also brings advancement and without advancement the human race would still be living in caves.

Kind regards

Ian

[spirit_66]

Hi all

My pennies worth.

I have been dabling with computers for thirty years now and if I had adopted the attitude of not being acceptable to change, I would be trying to use a flight sim on a Sinclair ZX81.

Change, when it comes, always brings with it problems but it also brings advancement and without advancement the human race would still be living in caves.

Kind regards

Ian

++1

Spirit

[Matthew Kane]

Change, when it comes, always brings with it problems but it also brings advancement and without advancement the human race would still be living in caves.

I don't mind change when it brings 'WOW' factor. Windows 8 didn't have that. It was ugly square boxes and people wanted to reverse those changes because they didn't like it.

If you Love or Hate Steve Jobs doesn't really matter but he was very good at delivering a'WOW' factor with his products. Microsoft has lost that culture along the way. Painful by comparison.

[penta_a]

Hi all

My pennies worth.

I have been dabling with computers for thirty years now and if I had adopted the attitude of not being acceptable to change, I would be trying to use a flight sim on a Sinclair ZX81.

Change, when it comes, always brings with it problems but it also brings advancement and without advancement the human race would still be living in caves.

Kind regards

Ian

I never mind change, actually I do try and test most of Windows releases before they even officially released (very eager to see how it behaves and in what way it's improved), but we are talking about functionality for certain thing here related to FSX specifically for optimum joy with less headache and not the OS in general.

 

Best regards

Ali A.

[Johncc]

Gee thanks guys.

You all sound very knowledgable on the subject. At the moment I am having a new (expencive) graphics card fitted by some very knowledgable young men. Who did sort of advise against putting Windows seven into a machine that was built for Windows 8. So when I get pc back which is also being returned to factory settings. I will keep you all posted as to how I get on with FSX and 8. By the way I have a complete Saitek cockpit set up and have had no probs with any of the controls or instruments.

John