Nick wrote:
Since Microsoft is pretty much forcing us to 'upgrade' to Windows 10, does anyone know if DOSBox works in Windows 10 in order to run fractint?
First, the answer is that DOSBox and Fractint run fine under Windows 10. This is the same DOSBox I had been using under Windows 8.1 (DOSBox svn 0.74). I haven't yet installed the latest Win 10 DOSBox. What follows is more than you want to know <grin!>, and I admit is off topic, which I am weakly justifying by saying I answered Nick's Fractint question. I risk launching a big Windows 10 thread. But here goes. I think we can tolerate a little Windows 10 discussion here, but despite my bad example let's try to limit it so as not to drown out the Fractint talk. I have a removable rack for two SSDs on my main home-built PC. So I can go back to my previous Windows 8.1 whenever I want by slipping in the old SSD. Apparently the way the licensing works, is after you upgrade, Windows 10 is activated not for you personally but for the particular hardware of the machine. Then you can go back to your old OS and upgrade again or do a clean install of Windows 10 and it will already be activated. So, for example, I have a Windows 7 PC I use as a HTPC using Media Center. I intend to "upgrade" to Windows 10 (which does not have Media Center), and then revert to Windows 7. Then at some future date when I have a good replacement for Media Center (even after the end of the free upgrade) I will go back to Windows 10. I have no problem going back to my SSD with Windows 8.1, other than I have to go into the BIOS first to change the boot drive. I will say two contradictory things about Windows 10. 1. In most ways Win 10 is a big improvement over Windows 8.1 and 7. Nearly everything works great, and for desktop users Windows 10 is less of a mish-mash than Windows 8.1. 2. I had a truly hellish experience upgrading my main computer to Windows 10. Thank goodness I had the old Windows 8.1 SSD and many Acronis backups. After the upgrade networking did not work! That is just about the worst possible problem. Not only that, but many other people had the same problem, but I saw no fix. What finally worked for me was going back the the last Windows 10 preview from late July (which worked fine), and upgrading it to Windows 10. Once I succeeded I did not have sufficient scientific curiosity to figure out what my problem had been. I had other problems that traced to a way too restrictive Commodo antivirus. Besides Windows Media Center which we had known for months would be removed, unaccountably Windows removed IrDA (Infrared) support that is used to upload data from older Polar HRM devices. At this point I would not advise anyone who is not a terminal-case nerd such as myself to upgrade. Give Microsoft 6 months to fix problems. If you do try the upgrade, make multiple very robust backups of your previous setup. The ideal backup is having your old OS on a removable rack. I would also recommend uninstalling anti-virus software and VPN clients before upgrading. I am going to attempt to run my old Windows 8.1 under a virtual machine. I *think* the licensing will work, but probably at the expense of the activation of my old Windows 8.1 SSD. Tim