Hi Jim,
I use Vista 32 - so my mileage may vary...
I am not sure I follow all of the problems you are describing... The mouse works - but - the keyboard doesn't ??? Just about all the gauge functions have to be clicked with the mouse... I think there is one input screen on the MCU where you can hit a key to enable actual keyboard typing...
The flight plans for the gauges have to be built and moved to the ISGsim flight plans directory in ISGsim format... I use FSBuild to create the flight plans for the FMC and can crank out a real world flight plan in like 60 seconds... I usually go to a site such as
http://www.fltplan.com and copy real world ATC routes...
One other adder perk of using FSBuild with the IGSsim pack is it can automatically load out the fuel into the aircraft for your flight... You need to have a valid aircraft profile to make this function work well...
I've only really used the Honeywell FMC and MCU... I'm not very familiar with the Smiths... One thing I noticed on the Honeywell is you can't delete flight plans... I think Ernie did that by design - to prevent inadvertent flight plan loss... I'd much rather go for the realism on that one - maybe it should be a configuration setting....
I'll gladly try and help - just keep asking...
Regards,
Scott