Software questions

[Mick]

I have some questions for anyone who is running Windows 10.

After much research and creative hacking I’ve been forced to abandon my hope of building a brand new computer that would run Win7pro. My techie friend has determined that new motherboard architecture is just too new for Win7 and a later operating system is required. (Dave, I remember that you said months ago that it couldn’t be done. You were right.)

I test drove W11 on a friend’s computer and quickly determined that I would switch to Apple before I’d have a W11 rig, even if it meant abandoning my hobby. We’ll, that’s not necessary. While it’s no longer possible to buy a W10 computer, it’s still possible to transplant W10 to a new system and get a license for it. So I now have W10 running on a brand new rig, though I still have to buy a license. (Probably tomorrow.). Next will come a virtual machine to run W7 or XP, maybe both.

Once the new rig is complete and completely functional, the next step is to install all my software. I’m wondering which programs will run in Win10 and which ones will need to run in a VM. So can any of you who have Win10 tell me whether any of these programs work in it?

MS Office 97: Word and Excel. (I know Outlook 97 won’t, don’t care about Access or Power Point.)

Outlook 2010.

Paint Shop Pro 7

DXTbmp

Panel Studio

Sierra Snapshot Express

Do you recall any programs related to FS that you could no longer run when went to Win10 from Win7 or Win8.1?

Thanks for any input. This information will help me determine what VM(s) I should get, a decision that I should make probably by tomorrow or the next day. (Yeah, I know, I should’ve thought to ask this much earlier.). And yes, I’ll post this in both the FS9 and FSX forums.

 

[Mick]

Forgot a couple, and this cursed device won’t let me make an edit to my initial post.

How about AFCAD and ADE9X?

 

[falcon409]

With the exception of that version of Microsoft Office, I have everything else you list working fine on Win10.

 

[Duckie]

I'm running MS Office 2010 and all the apps - Word, Excel, and Outlook all run without any problems. The earliest version of PSP I've run on Win10 is 6X. Now running PSP Pro 2021.

Steve

 

[Mike71]

I agree - Windows 10 works great on virtually anything; especially useful with 64 bit as well as 32 bit stuff

 

[Mick]

Thanks for the replies. That’s encouraging news. I was worried that some of my old software wouldn’t thrive in the newer operating system. It sounds like I’ll be in good shape for FS stuff. I have some non-FS things that were written for Win95. I wonder how much of that stuff will run in W10?

I figured I’d better post my questions here as well as the FS9 forum because there are so many more FSX users nowadays.

I hope to start restoring files from backup and installing software by the end of the week, a tedious chore I’d hoped to avoid. And I have to learn my way around Win10 and set up all my settings and whatnot. Bah!

 

[Allen]

I can't think of anything than ran fine Win 7 won't run on Win10. The programs closest to what you have listed I use on Win 10 are Paint Shop Pro 6.0, MS Office 02 and DXTbmp.

I also run Open-Shell and OldNewExplorer to have the Start Menu and Explorer UI set up like Win 7's since Win10's Explorer and Start Menu are just trash. Life with out the Command Bar and the Open function made me want to kill people. (The Red Arrow)

 

[Naismith]

I have Office 2007 incl Outlook and that works flawlessly.

 

[Mick]

Thanks for the additional comments.

Allen, your suggestions will head off problems I’d been worried about. My refusal to consider a new store-bought computer, which could only be a W11 machine, arose right after my old rig died and a friend let me use her new W11 system. I loathed it harder words can express, so much that I thought I’d rather switch to Apple, replace all my software and abandon my hobby before I’d own a W11 computer.

The other evening, when we got W10 installed and running as best it will run without a license, I took a quick look and thought this is only just barely better than W11. I even considered putting everything into a VM and only using W10 as a host. Now it looks like I can have a very tolerable UI in W10 and only boot up a VM for anything that won’t work in 10, which might turn out to be very few things. Maybe just Shiny and a couple old W95 programs that I still have and use.

Yeah, I like the old stuff. That’s partly because I don’t want to buy new stuff when the old stuff still gets the job done, and largely because I’m at an age where I feel that I have limited time left to me and I don’t want to spend any of it reading instructions.

 

[Allen]

OldNewExplorer is a must for me. I tried out the Win10 Start Menu but it kept being dumb and now I run Open-Shell since its Start Menu search doesn't suggest garbage (like Office 360 Word) or do an Internet search and more importantly I can drop and drag shortcuts into the Open-Shell Start Menu.

My Win 10 is on the Internet via Metered Connection set up so Win 10 won't/can't update. This may be something you have to do if Windows decides to give you an free "update" to Win 11.

If you need I can send you screenshots of my OldNewExplorer and Open-Shell settings.

 

[Mick]

If you need I can send you screenshots of my OldNewExplorer and Open-Shell settings.

I’d appreciate that! I could use the guidance when setting up a program I’m not familiar with in an operating system I’m not familiar with either. Especially since my friend who understands this stuff is severely pressed for time and can’t take a lot of time looking over my shoulder.

What’s OldNewExplorer? Do I need that along with Open-Shell?

Thanks!

 

[Allen]

OldNewExplorer sets Explore back to Windows 7. It may need Open-Shell as well. I don't recall, 2019 was along time ago. LOL. Open-Shell set the start menu back to Windows 7.

 

[Maxstuka]

win 7 can be run in win 10 with virtualbox software

 

[Mick]

win 7 can be run in win 10 with virtualbox software

Yes, and that’s the plan.

It appears that I will have little need for W7 for FS work, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll need it for some of my older non-FS stuff.

Thanks