P3D -what exactly is it?

[Dash8captain]

Morning guys can some one basically tell me what p3d is actually all about? I have looked on the net but i still dont understand it really my main questions below

-how does it work?
-is it a completely new program from fsx?
-are orbx and other scenerys available?
- is it worth upgrading?
- what does it cost?
- are fsx aircraft compatible?

Im basically going to upgrade my pc a wee but with a new copy of Windows 7 with a 500gb ssd drive soley for flightsim the pc i have currently is pretty high end with the intel i7 and 12gb of ram and a decent nivida card but currently i still struggle in busy airports such as Melbourne etc to get above 10fps if p3d is not going to change much ill just stick with fsx

[toprob]

Ok, in 50 words or less....
When Microsoft quit FSX, there were two different development paths, the 'normal' FSX, and ESP, which was a visual simulation platform, though based on FSX. For an intro to ESP, take a look atMicrosoft's initial press release here. Note that it gives one of it's uses as 'preparedness', which kind of explains Lockheed Martin's product.

Anyway, Microsoft sold the rights to develop FSX/MS Flight to Dovetail Games, and the rights to FSX/ESP to Lockheed Martin. So Prepar3d (pronounced 'prepared') 1.0 was kind of a combined FSX and ESP, rebranded as a military simulation platform.

As Prepar3d has been steadily updated -- we're now up to version 4.0 -- it is the closest thing to a modern MSFS simulator, had they continued development. You can only buy Prepar3d from Lockheed Martin's own site, and it is via download only. There are different license options, an Academic, Professional, Developer, Professional Plus, and Pro Plus Developer. The last two are if you are planning a military campaign, so don't apply so much to us...

The license for people like those who hang out on NZFF would be the Professional, at US$199, which is expensive -- they will add GST, so it becomes more than NZ$300. So a lot of people buy the Academic version (US$60). You will find that a lot of sites ban discussions of the license, as it 'encourages poor moral choices'. or some such rubbish. However if you are buying software from a US defence provider, then maybe morality is not your main decider...

So, I recommend the $200 version for those who can afford it, and the $60 version for those who can't. I use the monthly developer license, which is simply that, it costs me about $16 a month, which makes it about NZ$200 a year.

As I said, we've recently had version 4.0 released, and this is the version to go for, although you can still buy the previous versions.

Most major developers who support FSX also support Prepar3d, including Orbx. And me, although still no installers for 4.0, they're coming... There is less and less compatibility of older FSX aircraft as Prepar3d is developed, so if you can find Prepar3d versions of anything you own, then you are better off. So don't expect to be able to dump all your aircraft into Prepar3d, it won't work well.

Whether or not it's worth it -- most people who try it, love it, and many quickly and completely make the switch. It is a more modern product, continually in development, and now 64 bit, which removes the memory management issues with FSX+addons. If you are unsure of whether it is for you, I recommend buying a single month's developer license, and trying it out for yourself. This will cost $16, as I said, but is a cheapish way to trial.

In conclusion -- have you looked at X-plane?:) Cheaper, 64 bit also, continually in development.. what more could you want? (That's only partly a joke...)

[Dash8captain]

So as far as performance and visuals go i presume prepar 3d is a hang of a lot better? And do you need fsx to use perpar3d?

[toprob]

Well, as far as performance is concerned, it does depend on your system, and how you use it. I can have all my FSX settings fully right, and it performs great, I certainly can't do that with Prepar3d. But Prepar3d looks a lot better, and it will adapt better to system upgrades, whereas I could throw FSX into a top-end modern PC and it wouldn't do much better -- it is locked in time, somewhat, on a single core with VAS limitations.
You don't need to have ever owned or installed FSX to run Prepar3d, they are completely separate.

[Dash8captain]

Okay after running a trial of p3d i have decided to go with a complete new install of fsx steam edition with a few upgrades such as a ssd drive and a reinstall of windows my question is

Do i get a fresh install of windows 7 ir will windows 10 work okay with fsx steam edition?

[toprob]

I'll leave that to someone else, I'm not aware of any reason why an old obsolete OS would be a better choice, though.

[scaber]

FSX-SE appears to run fine on my Windows 10 laptop using an SSD. This is not my main system for flying, I prefer P3D which is on my desktop computer but I decided to install FSX on my laptop so when I went away I could still attempt to fly. When I complete the switch to P3D v4 I will probably uninstall V3 from my desktop and put that on the laptop to replace FSX-SE as I prefer the graphics in P3D and also it seems to run a bit smoother at locations with low frames than FSX does.

Anyway, to get back to your question - FSX SE runs fine on windows 10.