Considering an OS update ; ideas welcomed...

[BenjaminK]

Hello there,

After a couple of small compatibility issues on a retro-gaming rig of mine - a dual boot with Windows 7 x64 and XP x86 in a RAID 1 structure -, including a problem with GOG's servers, I'm starting think about this machine's future...

Solutions considered, for now : An obvious method would be, I guess, to transform my dual boot into a triple boot, slap on it Windows 10 for example, just so I can launch whatever bothers me in a suitable environment - such as Galaxy, whenever I really want to obtain Achievements for the few concerned games. This would also allow me to anticipate on other future compatibility issues... But it's not that simple, since drivers for that particular RAID card (a HighPoint RocketRAID 1740) and Windows 10 are sketchy at best. I didn't test every option yet, but chances of success seem slim. Buying a new RAID card could solve that, sure, but finding one which would cooperate with Windows XP, 7... and 10 isn't that easy. On top of that, I remember vividly how my last attempt to add Windows 10 ended years ago : the beast botched the other OSes' boot sector (which became unreadable), it ended up being the only accessible OS of the rig, and I ended up having to spend hours setting everything back online again. A pain I'd prefer not to go through again... and I'm not sure using a spare distinct drive for 10 would make its interaction with the other OSes easier.
Another idea would be to settle for Windows 8.1, less annoying in some ways and probably easier to reconcile with 7 and even XP in a multi-boot structure as I'm pretty sure I can find most drivers needed - which isn't the case with 10+ -, but would that truly help and, if yes, for how long ? I'm sure getting used to 8.1, which I rarely used up to now, is really worth it... Not if the same same problems include it within a year or two.
A more radical method would be to completely ditch my current structure, say goodbye to the current OSes on this rig - all of them -, then start again with Windows 10+ - mind you, 10's future itself doesn't look so hot... -, possibly adding virtual versions of XP & 7 whenever they'll be needed, but this obviously nullifies this retro-gaming rig's whole objective... which was to enjoy those older OS's interface, play games in their native environment - even those requiring quite a bit of graphical power, which wouldn't work well through a virtual version of XP or 7 - and avoid compatibility hiccups - which are common, even though GOG's versions help quite a bit.

Any remark will be welcomed... Thanks in advance !