I just heard there will be no Gameport support in Vista. So am I supposed to throw away my Sidewinder FF Pro?This really makes me angry...GreetingsEd

Ed, you're not supposed to do anything. Nobody "supposes" you to buy/use FSX, nobody "supposes" you to upgrade from (I guess Windows XP) to Vista, nobody "supposes" you to throw away your Sidewinder.It's just like your grandfather was not "supposed" by anybody at all to get rid of his horse and buy a car instead. Yet he quite probably did so - unless you're from an Amish family. Sure, he could't feed his car oats, but it's fair assumption that this did not make him really angry.It simply is your choice. Either use your Sidewinder which seems to have the limitation that it cannot be used with Vista, or use Vista which seems to have the limitation that it cannot be used with your Sidewinder. That's called "making choices", and why on earth would making a simple choice "really make you angry"? One shudders thinking of the rage that really IMPORTANT choices must create in you. Be well!Jaap Verduijn.

Thanks for your philosophical abstract on the decisions we make. Now go on and get a life!All I want is some programming effort done by Microsoft to support a not so old technology that is working fine. The Sidewinder FF Pro is probably still the best joystick available and cost me 125 bucks, so expect some security - and yes, "wise man" I know, that there is no such thing, especially if you are dealing with Microsoft...GreetingsEd

My current computer didn't have a gameport, so I bought a USB gameport adapter. It was very cheap and actually works better. On every previous computer the joystick signal was very noisy. Now, using the USB adapter, the signal is completely clean.A USB adapter should be the perfect solution for your problem.Best regards, Chris

A Gameport adapter is probably the best thing for many Gameport users. However it does not work with the "Force Feedback" forces so in my case this does not help.GreetingsEd

Then go buy a new joystick. Or dont buy Vista. Those ARE your choices. I used to have a steam train at the end of my garden. Now it's a diesel. Its called progress.Failing that, I'm sure some hardware developer will be along to relieve you of twice as much money as a new stick will cost to suply you with a little black box that will fix the problem. Allcott

Microsoft did bail on their force feedback customers. I bought a forcefeedback joystick, and they quit supporting the joystick in XP, but the operating system still supports FF for other vendors. Mine is usb, but none the less.

Progress? Your comparison is very weak here. Progress is when one technology that is better follows the worse one. Clearly not the case here because USB joysticks are not necessarily better than Gameport ones. And don't tell me it would be a large effort to offer Gameport support...

>Progress? Your comparison is very weak here. Progress is when>one technology that is better follows the worse one. Clearly>not the case here because USB joysticks are not necessarily>better than Gameport ones. And don't tell me it would be a>large effort to offer Gameport support...It would be a large effort to offer gameport support when the gameport support in XP eas only a legacy setting - USB has replaced gameport as the de facto standard in the computer industry, and apart from some serious midi interfaces requiring gameports there are no modern tools, hardware or devices that need it. It is also a weak, error-prone, slow and essentially useless port to almost all users except professional musicians.Your device does not fit into that category - it is not `modern` it is `old`. Old-fashioned, obsolescent and about to be as useful as boots on a boa constrictor. USB sticks are better than gameport ones, for many reasons. You jight want to go look some of them up, including the ability to share the same feed wuthout cross-contamination. Try that with a gameport. I even have to have a separate hardware profile to stop my gameport midi devices being mullahed by other hardware. The sooner they trash gameports and replace them with a extra PCI slot, USB interface or small plant pot for growing cress, the better.It is not progress to offer retro-compatibility. It may be inconvenient but they did away with the legal requirement for a taxi cab to carry a bale of hay for the horse some time ago. But it doesn't bother you, if your wedded to gameports, don't switch to Vista.Allcott

Totally wrong. The Sidewinder Force Feedback is as modern as any other joystick and there will probably never ever again such a good stick on the market in terms of components/motors used. It serves its purpose as it is supposed to do and causes no troubles. So don't compare it like you compare lets say USB 1.1 to USB 2.0 where the advantages are clearly visible.

>Totally wrong. The Sidewinder Force Feedback is as modern as>any other joystick and there will probably never ever again>such a good stick on the market in terms of components/motors>used. It serves its purpose as it is supposed to do and causes>no troubles. So don't compare it like you compare lets say USB>1.1 to USB 2.0 where the advantages are clearly visible.One obvious flaw in your argument. Microsoft no longer make the Sidewinder, or any joystick for the that matter. So it is obsolete. Also, they never made it with anything other than a gameport. Which, as you have found, also renders it obsolete. So it is NOT as modern as `any other` joystick. If it was it would have a USB connector, wouldn't it? And you would be able to use it with the new Operating System. As you can't, it ain't! So just keep using it with Windows XP. Allcott

Funny definition of "obsolete". It is not obsolete for *me* and I cannot buy a newer model that is doing anything anyhow better because there is no such stick. Got it? I don't talk about a 30 year old machine but a few years old piece of hardware that cost me 125 Euros.I can understand that companies have to get rid of old technologies if they are in the way for something new (PCI to AGP to PCIe) but I don't want to blame USB but rather additional support for the gameport.GreetingsEd

Nothing funny about it, here's the Wikipedia definitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsoleteand the word web online definitionhttp://www.wordwebonline.com/en/OBSOLETEand dictionary.com suggestshttp://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=obsolete&x=54&y=17Your joystick will be "of a discarded or outmoded type" - in your case outmoded rather than discarded! We don't get to decide when it's obsolete, the marketplace does. Lots of products function well into obsolescence, some even go on even when they are obsolete, but that can't mean they escape the definition. Obviously you don't understand the completely different technology stream that gives us Gameports on the one hand, and Universal Serial Bus on the other. USB was originally introduced in 1996, USB2.0 in 2000, so you can hardly argue that support for Gameport should continue more than TEN YEARS after its replacement came to the market.That's why it's obsolete, but I don't doubt that as long as you keep Win XP and the stick continues to work, it will continue to give good service. Whether it will work with FSX, I don't know.Allcott

I won't discuss technology any longer. I never said the MIDI Port was really a good way to operate joysticks and I agree that USB is the more modern and better technology. However there are many many people that still use that joystick and it works fine with FSX. The Game port does not do harm to anyone (except you I assume) so why not support it?By the way: There are cars you get spare parts for that are 25 years old... And the disk drive is still supported although this technology is absolutely obsolete...I see that at a certain point there have to be made cuts but they should be done if an old technology is in the way for a new one (like DOS support would hardly be possible) but I doubt that it would be a great effort to convert a simple driver to a 64 bit version.So longEdP.S.: Do you work for Microsoft?

It's not a `simple driver`, it's an entire hardware standard. An obsolete hardware standard. I think you might want to do a little more work to understand the difference. Start with Wikipedia againhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_portWhich also offers clues why the Gameport is deservedly dead, or dying.No I dont work for Microsoft, but I do (did) have lots of experience working with MIDI.Allcott