No idea about clipper and DOS, see here.

If it will not run within the several ways you can do this inside Win 8.1, you can simply put it into a Hyper V

VFP will run under 7 as well as under 8[.1]. In 8.1 (I've skipped 8) VFP needs to be set to compatibility mode, see other message.

Win 7 (64 pro or how ever M$ calls it) comes with a VM as well, but those is good for one core only. In Win 8.1 you can adjust as many cores you like.

Just keep your actual HD and transform it to a VHD(X) - it will run under Hyper V

Again. Win 8.1 pro 64 bit. With 7 you will run sooner into the same trap as with XP.

64 bit with a decent processor because any kind of VM is great - and this will need more then 3GiByte RAM.

Any trouble with Metro etc.? ClassicShell is your friend.

Lutz
>I forgot to mention...
>I also need to run a couple of old DOS (Clipper) apps.
>So which is the best OS?
>Will Win 7 (32 bit or 64 bit) run the VFP exes as well as the old DOS (Clipper) apps?
>
>I really have no need for any of the other sophisticated features that have been mentioned in this thread.
>
>Rich