Life after XP ?

[Splitpin]

Not being 100% up to speed with the OS world , im a bit worried about what will happen when microsoft stop support for XP.
Should i look at upgrading ?and to what ?

To me it seems that windows 8 is really designed for the touch screen systems , and will fsx be ok ?
Maybe win7 ? or do you think xp will see me out .

[toprob]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Sep 4 2013,10:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not being 100% up to speed with the OS world , im a bit worried about what will happen when microsoft stop support for XP.
Should i look at upgrading ?and to what ?

To me it seems that windows 8 is really designed for the touch screen systems , and will fsx be ok ?
Maybe win7 ? or do you think xp will see me out .

I wasn't too sure about moving to Win 8, but really I haven't had any of the problems which I was expecting. It took me about a week to get used to, which is no different from any upgrade I've gone through. However it might help that I've never skipped a version. Windows 8 is a lot like Windows 7, but with a few improvements, which I actually miss now when I help my flatmate out on the old Windows 7 machine.

I'm not too sure that the upcoming 8.1 will be good news for FSX, since it doesn't work in the beta, so that's a bit of an unknown for me.

I've never used a touch screen, (except ATMs, which confuse me no end) but I would imagine that in the next year or two I might have to get used to them. In the meantime I just ignore that part of Win 8.

[Splitpin]

Thanks for your time Rob , maybe 8 will be the way to go . The 8.1 upgrade is concerning , i would hate to lose fsx for the sake of and automatic upgrade , if thats how it works.

[deeknow]

I expect Windows 8 will eventually be fine for FSX but at the moment results are too variable, you should look at a Win7 license if you can find one.
I use windows 8 on my machine at work (doing s/w development) and it's been rock-solid.

[AlisterC]

If i get forced to upgrade it will be Win 7 for me (just heard better things)
Otherwise might just disconnect my XP flight sim computer from the web and keep on keeping on..

[Charl]

Was it even numbered Windows editions to avoid? I think so.
I'm with you Alister.
I actually look forward to MS butting out of XP.
I will simply pick an update point that works for my FS9 video drivers, and freeze it there.
The kiddyscripters will also have lost interest in XP by then, and will be furiously writing hacker code for WIN 8...

[markll]

Windows 8 is definitely the way to go. As Rob said, once you get used to it (should only take a short time) you'll actually miss some Win8 features when you have to go back to older versions.

According to this technet forum entry, there is a newer build of Windows 8.1 which "fixes" support for FSX. Whether it was windows itself, or a driver of some kind, I'm not sure. Also note that this is just one person's experience - it may not be the case for all...

Oh, and you'll always have the option to NOT install Windows 8.1 if you get Windows 8. It's going to be opt-in via the Windows Store only (well ok, you'll also be able to get a DVD image if you want to do a fresh install)

[toprob]

Just for my own interest's sake, I took a ganderoogle at problems which people were having with Windows 8. Here's an assortment, just to give some idea of the changes which are catching people out.

There's no Start menu, so it's difficult to find and start an application, log off, switch user or shutdown.
Well, not necessarily difficult, just different. Once I figured out that the Windows key switched between the Start screen and the Desktop, most things got a lot simpler. Plus, I normally shut down using Alt-F4 anyway, which still works from the Taskbar or Desktop.
I normally organise my own apps, the most important get pinned to the Taskbar, less used get a shortcut on the Desktop, and some shortcuts go into folders on the Desktop, to keep things tucked away but still organised. Anything else, which I used to use the Start menu for, I use the search 'charm', which is just as quick -- move the mouse to the right top corner to display the charms, click on Search and type the name of the app.
Ok, so 'Charms' is kind of silly, but I don't judge a tool by its name -- otherwise my computer would be dongle-free.

Apps have limited display choices/features.
Not an issue for me, as I don't use a lot of Windows 8 apps. For instance, there's a nice email app which shows up on my Start screen, and actually shows how many emails I have, but to read/write emails I use the same old Outlook 2003 I've used for the last 10 years. My attitude is, apps are for fun, desktop applications are for work. I have tried a few apps from the Windows Store, and some of them I actually keep. However I have no use for a full screen (23inch, 1080p) calculator! Still, it's nice to see an overview of the weather full-screen, or browse a few movie previews on the Flicks.co.nz app.

BUT, I do find that there's an obvious disconnection between the Start screen/Windows 8 apps, and the Desktop. They share nothing in common, and you'll often be bumped from one to the other, depending on where you click. I'd be happy to stick to the Desktop, as I can't imagine relying fully on Windows apps. Some people could, though, and good on them. For me, the Start screen is just a giant advertisement for a Windows phone, or tablet. It kind of says 'hey, wouldn't you like a phone which looked this good, and gave you access to these apps?'

Like most advertising, I just try not to notice it. (He said, leaving the 'enable signature' box checked...)

[Splitpin]

Oh boy .... now Im really confused , but thanks for your time guys.
Maybe some P.M's coming your way soon

[scaber]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Sep 4 2013,5:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh boy .... now Im really confused , but thanks for your time guys.
Maybe some P.M's coming your way soon

maybe to confuse you even further, I moved my FSX from windows 7 to windows 8 (as a bit of an experiment initially) and haven't had any major problems so kept on using win8. Everything runs smoothly. I also added the Classic Start Menu to windows 8 so it starts on the Desktop and has the usual start button and menu items. Only occasionally look at the Metro and Charms interface as everything can be run from the desktop (including the metro apps if you think they are worth using)

[Ian Warren]

As long as you go to a 64-bit .. OS

Recommended

OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i5/i7 Sandy Bridge/IvyBridge/Haswell series
RAM: 8GB+
Video Card: 2GB+ latest generation Nvidia. (example: GeForce GTX 760, 770, 780)
Monitor: Widescreen with 16:10 aspect ratio

PMDG *highly* recommends that you choose a 64-bit operating system to avoid problems with FSX running out of memory due to a 32-bit environment.

This is primary for Terry

[lowglow]

I have just upgraded from XP to windows 7 and loving it. Not really finding it too different from XP FSX is also working fine.

[Mynameisnemo]

QUOTE (toprob @ Sep 4 2013,4:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's no Start menu, so it's difficult to find and start an application, log off, switch user or shutdown.
Well, not necessarily difficult, just different. Once I figured out that the Windows key switched between the Start screen and the Desktop, most things got a lot simpler. Plus, I normally shut down using Alt-F4 anyway, which still works from the Taskbar or Desktop.
I normally organise my own apps, the most important get pinned to the Taskbar, less used get a shortcut on the Desktop, and some shortcuts go into folders on the Desktop, to keep things tucked away but still organised. Anything else, which I used to use the Start menu for, I use the search 'charm', which is just as quick -- move the mouse to the right top corner to display the charms, click on Search and type the name of the app.

Just to add to this - you will likely find that the fastest way to search for an app or application, such as FSX, using the start menu is to simply start typing its name. So if you're on the desktop, and you want to open Microsoft Word, for example just press the Windows key, and start typing "word" and you'll see a list of applications, which will include Word (assuming you have Word installed!!).

QUOTE

Apps have limited display choices/features.
Not an issue for me, as I don't use a lot of Windows 8 apps. For instance, there's a nice email app which shows up on my Start screen, and actually shows how many emails I have, but to read/write emails I use the same old Outlook 2003 I've used for the last 10 years. My attitude is, apps are for fun, desktop applications are for work. I have tried a few apps from the Windows Store, and some of them I actually keep. However I have no use for a full screen (23inch, 1080p) calculator! Still, it's nice to see an overview of the weather full-screen, or browse a few movie previews on the Flicks.co.nz app.

BUT, I do find that there's an obvious disconnection between the Start screen/Windows 8 apps, and the Desktop. They share nothing in common, and you'll often be bumped from one to the other, depending on where you click. I'd be happy to stick to the Desktop, as I can't imagine relying fully on Windows apps. Some people could, though, and good on them. For me, the Start screen is just a giant advertisement for a Windows phone, or tablet. It kind of says 'hey, wouldn't you like a phone which looked this good, and gave you access to these apps?'

Like most advertising, I just try not to notice it. (He said, leaving the 'enable signature' box checked...)[/quote]


Agreed - you can't get by with just windows apps - not even on my Windows RT Surface tablet does that work! The opposite IS true however. You can get by with just the desktop and desktop applications...You can set things up easily so that you virtually never see the "metro" apps...

[Mynameisnemo]

At the moment I'm dual booting Windows 7 & 8 on the laptop, the main reason for this is the laptop originally came with Windows 8 on but I had some old games which I often play via Lan (red alert 2 etc) which run like cr@p on windows 8!

r.e there not being a start menu.. it does take a while to get used to but there's numerous free start menu replicators I personally use IObit's Start Menu 8 and it gives the option via the settings to bypass Metro screen.

In the past I've ran "8" on the desktop and for the few months I was using it had no problems running FSX or even FS9 through it..

In the end though its down to personal choice, although for ease of set up etc, I'd personally go with Windows 7.

Microsoft have also posted the .ISO's online for Windows 7 x86 and x64, and all you would need to get up and running is a Valid Serial, although there are some sites which still offer the various editions of Windows 7 for sale!

[Kelvinr]

Alrighty, I attended a Microsoft Office 365 conference/training which mainly focused on Office 365 but also one of the team leaders who manages Windows 8(.1) development reported that one of the biggest things in 8.1 will be Enterprise level features i.e group policies/lock down of computers but this in no way affects you as consumers.

8.1 will come with some nice changes which there will be a form of a start button that we all know. Now in terms of FSX I had run FSX and Windows 8 together and had no problems but it is still an unknown as not every single addon can be tested. Windows 8 with prepar3d causes a font issue where all the fonts are bold and somewhat distorted a little.

Professionally speaking I advise customers who are coming from XP to upgrade to Windows 7 as the ten year OS lifespan is likely to extend with Win 7 because of it's compatibility with many many apps and software out there. Besides, with the exception of a few customers who moved from XP to Win 8 the rest report personal preference issues with Windows 8.

However, Win 8 is coming with the end user in mind and I have seen the latest preview at the conference showing some really cool and user friendly features.

Personally I always stay a step behind the greatest, that way you can be confident that most if not all bugs are ironed out. With "new" comes new bugs

I am familiar with both Windows 7 and Windows 8 (even the 8.1 preview) and can offer advise if anyone here needs the peace of mind or help deciding how to proceed.

Cheers,

Kelvin