Windows 10 is out, and of course the question to ask is, “Can it still run MSTS, and how well?”
Windows 10 does run MSTS and in fact it runs it quite well!
There are two ways you can begin running MSTS under Win10; one way is to upgrade your current Windows 7 or 8 installation to Windows 10. In that case, everything will simply continue working normally. The other way is to install a fresh copy of Windows 10 and then re-install MSTS, and restore your routes and trains from backup.
Either way, you’ll find that MSTS runs quite well under Windows 10.
What about graphics adapter issues and MSTS with Windows 10? In general, there appears to be no significant change. Nvidia graphics chipsets work well. Intel graphics continue do give problems, particularly the newest generations. AMD graphics are much the same, with the notable exception that some of the most recent AMD chipsets may work with AMD “Bulldozer” series CPUs. There are also limited reports that rolling back to older drivers and/or Catalyst Control Center versions may help, but it’s not 100% consistent.
Nvidia drivers have their own issues with Windows 10; in general, do not have automatic updates enabled in your Nvidia driver and software because that can cause conflicts with automatic Windows updates. Nvidia is slowly catching up and should have their current drivers available through Windows Update soon, but it’s taking a bit of time.
Be aware, if you use Windows 10 Home, you will be on automatic Windows updates all the time. If you use Windows 10 Pro, you may delay updates, but you may still want to prevent drivers from being updated and breaking a working setup. You can block automatic driver updates — here’s how:
Most automatic driver updates can be fixed this way:
1) Right-click the Start button and select Control Panel from the list.
2) Go to to System and Security > System > Advanced system settings.
3) Find the Hardware tab and click on it.
4) Click on Device Installation Settings and choose “No, let me choose what to do”.
5) Choose “Never install driver software from Windows Update.”
6) Click “OK” to save your settings.
In some cases, a driver with a security vulnerability can still be pushed through Windows update. Then you’ll have to roll it back and block the installation:
1) Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager from the list.
2) Find “Display Adapters” in the list and double-click the entry to expand the list.
3) Double-click the name of your graphics adapter.
4) Find the “Driver” tab and click on it.
6) Click the “Roll Back Driver” button and follow the prompts. You’ll need to restart the computer.
7) Now visit this page from Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930
8) Download the “Show or Hide Updates Troubleshooter” to your computer.
9) Running the troubleshooter tool will bring you to options to hide the problem update from future downloads.
This is Microsoft’s solution for the general distribution of Windows 10 Home and Pro. Windows 10 Pro also has means to control when to download and install updates using local Group Policy, but it still won’t let you pick-and-choose. Upcoming changes in the Windows Insider program will let Windows 10 Pro users join a special program for “business users” and manage updates in a Web interface which will resemble Windows Server Update Services, an enterprise tool for controlling updates. But that’s still to come, so details aren’t available yet.