Sunrise make a good window as long as its not the essentials series which you already mentioned it wasnt. As far as the sill, some installers claim that the sunrise has somewhat of a weaker sill. The okna has a lot of chambers in the sill which makes it very strong and sturdy.
One point, if you opt for sunrise, its important to get the reinforcement due to sunrise having a narrow frame, thats the one thing the standard sunrise lacks ( no reinforcement). The Okna 800 has a slightly wider frame but does have reinforcement which i like.
That said, i do like sunrise, just ask to see the vanguard or restorations series.

This post was edited by mmarse1 on Sun, Jun 22, 14 at 9:35

Does reinforcement have much of an effect on casement windows? I am also trying to decide between Okna and Sunrise, but of the casement variety.

Casements on either sunrise or okna is preference, both are solid and can hold plenty of weight.

In double hung I prefer the Okna 800 (although the Sunrise Restorations/Vanguard) is very good. In casement it is almost a toss-up. Two great units.