[COMSOL 5.1.0.180] Workstation Hardware - Software Configuration

Hello! I am an engeering student from Roma, Tor Vergata University.

I will work with COMSOL 5.1 Update 2 to simulate aluminium foams (CFD+Heat transfer), I will probably use Brinkman equations.

I have the opportunity to use COMSOL on a workstation based on the following hardware:

2*Xeon 2687W
64Gbyte of RAM
850PRO SSD
Quadro M6000
3D Conncexion SpacePilot PRO

I have the following questions:

1) What is the best OS to install to use COMSOL? At the moment I am using Windows 8.1 but I am able to switch to any other OS, I have been told that Windows 7 could be a better choice.

2) Should I use hyper threading or not? I completed a couple of tutorials (including the wrench) and I noticed that, with HT, the CPU shows only 50% usage. Is there anything that you can suggest? I didn't change anything in the

3) Is there anything I can do to use the 3D mouse? It seems that it doesn't work.

Thanks in advance!

Best,
Vittorio