The results are in...
 

Well what can I say...

The difference between XP pro and Win 7 84-bit is quite remarkable.

I tried the training mission briefly with all graphics options set to default -except for the epilepsy filter and the game played really well, good frame rate -and you could see the rings in the sky -I didn't even know they were there before !

So it looks like the step up to win 7 and DirectX 10 has made a considerable difference.

The OS itself seems snappier than XP but still feels like a poor copy of OSX -it just feels a bit flakier and still not quite as fluid and responsive... It's not dreadful but I'm just glad that I don't have to spend the bulk of my time in its grip.

Worth it for the improvement in Games performance though ! :-P

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, and for the laugh at the more tangental observations...

In fact I meant to say in response to Oldschool's comment about the Mac Users not knowing one end of a screwdriver from the other that one of the great things about the Mac Pro is that you don't need to use a screwdriver to change a hard drive !

Cheers

I bet you have to buy proprietary overpriced hardware!!

Home premium covers pretty much anything anyone may need, in my humble opinion. Starter version is for really low end machines and I think it comes only with netbooks.

The price for home premium is not that bad considering all the stuff it comes with, regardless if you use it or not.

Old School has reminded why I use a Mac ...... I don´t have to waste my time, with having to deal with irritating door to door preachers of backward religions, trying to sell me all types of Gods and repentance, with all sorts of combinations .... when all I need is the one .....

An old british race car engineer´s proverb .... " Why make it simple .... when you can make it HARD ..... there´s no fun in THAT !!!" ... I think JAGUAR maybe...?

(I've got an old XJS ....by the way ... I know what I'm talking about .... LOL)