So it isn't an OS issue I was thinking of porting my OGL 3.3 files from my XP desktop to my Win 7 laptop but I take it that won't work? I can't use a program like Maya to shoe-horn OGL 3.3 onto the laptop can I?I'm afraid no. your Intel hardware must be able to work with newer OpenGL extensions, and if it's possible, Intel have to update your drivers, which is possible but unlikely. Starry Night is compiled with OpenGL 1.4 and Stellarium with 2.0
You're right about SN and Stellarium using older versions- it probably explains why the moon looks so artificial on SN. I can't believe they still use OGL 1.4 and yet don't support Win XP anymore (at least Stellarium still does.) I use an older version (PP6) on my desktop and the newer version (PP7) on my laptop. It runs slow on the laptop though and I have to keep AllSky off.
If I wanted to go this route with the laptop is there any way to attach an external graphics card to it? If I did would NVidia handle OGL and I could use OGL 3.3 or even higher?