Hi All,I just thought I would share my most recent and very strange experience, mostly aimed at those who use FS2002 on a slower computer.I will list my system and flightsim setup to start, but I want all of you to promise that you won't laugh at me. I do plan to purchase a new machine in the new year but it's the love of years of flightsimming that keep me going.Pentium 300 MMXII128 MB RAM3 GIG HD2 Sound cards (one is for voice ATC via my headset)ATI RADEON 7000 32MBWindows 98SEDSL Internet Connection.Flightsim Setup:Most sliders at dense or very dense.No AI (don't like it)No ATC (VATSIM rules!)CHP USB Yoke (when I fly 767PIC, or CESSNA 421C)MS Precision Pro Joystick (when I fly my P51D Mustang)FS Real Time - always runningFSMeteo - always runningRoger Wilco - Voice ATCSquawkbox - usually up and runningActive Camera - Love this utility.End-It-All - to free up system resources.Now that I have that out of the way, a while back I was having problems connecting to certain websites. I was using IE5.5 at the time. My ISP suggested that I upgrade to IE6 which I did, but it didn't help my situation until they had me change some config settings. In the meantime, loading FS2002 and all the associated progams that I like to use took alot of time as you can appreciate knowing my system specs. Once loaded however, the sim ran pretty good, although things slowed down quite a bit when changing views especially when I wanted to switch to the VC in the Cessna and pan around. The only hiccup I would experience is the ocasional lockup probably due to the fact that smoke was coming out of my computer when on final to a busy and dense airport.....but rarely. And although it wasn't silky smooth, it was good enough to enjoy...hell, better than FS2000. A couple of days ago, I read a post in this forum eluding to the release of a new beta version of the Opera browser. I used to use Opera years ago and decided to take another look at it. I soon after downloaded and installed Version 6.05 and fell in love again. After a day of use, I decided to uninstall IE6, mostly to save some disk space leaving IE5 just hanging around. I did the usual scandisk/defrag thing as I do on a semi-regular basis and was thrilled to have a browser that runs very clean and fast with some nice added functionality.The following day was time to fire up my 421C and fly from KHOU to KPSP. I loaded up FS2002 which brought me where I left off (in the cockpit at the GA Area at KHOU) with one difference.....everything seemed to load and run much faster....and I mean everything. Scenery, pop-up panels, and my additional programs (with the exception of SB). It was too obvious to ignore. I started the flight and then got called away part way through, so I had to pause and save the flight, intending to continue another time. I usually like to finish a flight that I start, but hey, PSP is about 5 hours or so away from Houston in the 421 and I only fly in real time as a rule.When I returned to continue the flight, I decided to experiment by leaving all my programs running such as my anti-virus software, all the above programs with the exception of Squawkbox, and in fact, Opera open as well. I am actually writing this post while cruising at FL200 and switching back and forth to check my GPS. The big moment for me was to see how long it would take to switch to the Cessna's VC. I would say half the time and panning was much faster and smoother. I don't know, and won't even speculate as to why this has happened, but I will say that the changing out my browser to Opera from IE6 (and even IE5.5 for that matter) has not only enhanced my browsing experience, but has improved the performance of FS2002 on my current machine.....an unexpected biproduct that all you fellow flightsimmers can appreciate for any increase in performance makes the flightsimming experience that much better. I just thought I'd relay this strange experience. I'm not suggesting that this is tried and true performance fix for those with slow computers, and of course every system is different, fast or slow. But I decided to post this because it was just too obvious on my machine not to share the experience. And by the way......I'm still getting a new computer in the new year......LOLLawrie Lawrie MannVatsim Callsign: TELCO1

Has anybody else experienced this? I just don't understand how this could possibly be?

Incredibly interesting where can I get Opera?Alex.

but I want all of you to promise that you won't laugh at meLOL ;-)

Do you think your browser cache was full with the IE browser?Temporary internet files can fragment your hard drive.JK

www.opera.com :-)