I have FS2002 Standard and am on a 56k connection. So I don't want to waste my time dling something that doesnt work. Is there a way that I can tell if a file (aircraft, scenery, ect) will work with Standard?

I have standard edition and I can install EVERYTHING except any addition, ie repaint of KingAir, Mooney - the planes that Pro has that are not included in Standard. It only effects aircraft but you can get ALL of the third parties that use Pro gauges by going to MS FS2000, yes that is "2000". Get Patch #2 which includes the newest FS2000 gauges. It will be an "exe" file. Do NOT install it but extract with WinZip and put the KingAir, Mooney, Concord (memory failing - one more?) gauge in your FS 2002 gauge file. If they are Cab files just put them in. Everything will work - guarantee it.Utilities and scenery etc not affected at all between versions.

Now, take the money you saved on the standard edition and go buy that Cessna 421 payware addon and have fun.

Apart from the plane's, you're mostly missing gauges (and who fly's default planes anyway these days?) - but by downloading the patch for FS2000 Professional Edition - you get all the gauges. At least all the gauges to make Yanick's amazing Falcon 50 work correctly. Every download (for professional only) has worked perfect for me ever since.It's about an 8 or 9 meg file but worth it!Best Regards,Boone

Hey thanks, I will try that.

Don't forget about the sound files for the Mooney, Kingair, and Baron. They're not included in the patch or standard version. I know many have either bought the standard out of ignorance, or got it as a gift, but IMO, the lack of a hassle factor when utilizing 3d party add-ons has made the slight extra cost of the Pro-edition well worth it. My guess is you can pick up the Pro version for a pretty darn good deal by now.Now, time to rant;I'm still rather miffed MS didn't "clean up" some of the default aircraft to FS2002 standards (C182RG, Mooney, Lear, Sopwith, Schweizer - all basically carry-overs from FS2000). After all, how much more time would have been required to "fix" those planes. Maybe next time, eh MS???My sincere hope is MS will ditch the standard version in the future. Make all the copies the same, then we all avoid the problem of incompatability and the rampant cases of Pro-only file piracy.Dave

I bought the Standard version out of just not knowing any better. However, after finding the majority of things I wanted to download were Pro version only, I returned my copy and exchanged it for the Professional version. It was worth it to return and pay a little more for the Pro version.KP

The FS2000 patch did work. Thank you! And in case any of you were wondering why I have FS2002 Standard is that I got it as a gift last christmas and never had a chance to exchange it, in case any of you were wondering.

Relatively more time than you think... They did a lot more to FS2002, and in two years they could not have done so much more.Kitty MercuryCathay Pacific Virtual Pilot (CX252)

I only regret buying the standard version because I want to design planes and pro has all the goodies for that. I have had no problems with the standard version otherwise. As I said - I was able to down load all the gauges and sounds.The very fact that the store's are still selling the pro version of FS2K2 here (in rip-off Southern Ireland) at

>Relatively more time than you think...I tend to disagree. With the complete revamp of most default FS2000 planes, the addition of new aircraft, plus the elimination of the Concorde, it would seem to me the redesign of 5 default FS2000 aircraft to FS2002 standards (re.G-Max) shouldn't have taken the mighty MSFS team much more time. They delayed the release of FS2002 as a consequence of the fallout from Sept. 11th. The "official" reason was to remove the WTC. Well, that should have taken a day, but MS delayed FS2002 about a month. I, like others, grow tired of the excuses made for and by MS. While I think FS2002 is a remarkable product that certainly deserves much praise, some of the "holes" left by MS are just plain sloppy.Dave