With MicroSoft now out of the Flight Sim business- here are some looming problems for us.1. Will Real World weather continue to be available? I assume MS has a financial arrangement with Jeppeson to provide this info- I suppose to MS servers. Is this likely to continue if MS is now out of this business?2. Will MS continue to supply the FLIGHT SIMULATOR product to retailers or is it simply no longer available in stores when stock is gone?3. Will MS continue to make existing FS update downloads available from their servers? If they have abandoned all development/support staff, why continue to offer server updating?If the answer is negative for the last two- then there is no entry possible for new simmers and our hobby eventually dies.Since the apparent reason for axing ACES is to save money- the answers to these questions seem negative.Alex Reid

With MicroSoft now out of the Flight Sim business- here are some looming problems for us.1. Will Real World weather continue to be available? I assume MS has a financial arrangement with Jeppeson to provide this info- I suppose to MS servers. Is this likely to continue if MS is now out of this business?2. Will MS continue to supply the FLIGHT SIMULATOR product to retailers or is it simply no longer available in stores when stock is gone?3. Will MS continue to make existing FS update downloads available from their servers? If they have abandoned all development/support staff, why continue to offer server updating?If the answer is negative for the last two- then there is no entry possible for new simmers and our hobby eventually dies.Since the apparent reason for axing ACES is to save money- the answers to these questions seem negative.Alex Reid

Alex-From my past experience with all other 5 sims that failed in a similar manner I'd say 1) probably for a while-but won't add ins like active sky provide this? 2) I'd say when it is gone it is gone 3) NoAlso I would expect hardware to start a gradual vanishing act (Saitek, Ch etc.).

It's been ahwile since I installed FSX, but doesn't it use an online activation ?If so, what happens 3 or 4 years from now when we are reinstalling fsx on new computers ?

It's been ahwile since I installed FSX, but doesn't it use an online activation ?If so, what happens 3 or 4 years from now when we are reinstalling fsx on new computers ?

Good question. But, in terms of availability brought up earlier, I purchased a new boxed MS Links golf software off eBay for dirt cheap about a year and a half ago, and it has been out of production for quite some time (add-ons are still being created BTW). There should be FSX software available for quite some time to come.In regards to weather, I use ASX/ASA, and have HiFi software for some time now, so see not need for the integrated weather engine.I anticipate folks will keep FSX going for a while, and/or they will look for an alternative if that time comes.

It's been ahwile since I installed FSX, but doesn't it use an online activation ?If so, what happens 3 or 4 years from now when we are reinstalling fsx on new computers ?

Activation is handled as it is now... by Microsoft headquarters, just like Vista, XP activations. Activation has never been located within the Aces Team.Jim

With MicroSoft now out of the Flight Sim business- here are some looming problems for us.1. Will Real World weather continue to be available? I assume MS has a financial arrangement with Jeppeson to provide this info- I suppose to MS servers. Is this likely to continue if MS is now out of this business?2. Will MS continue to supply the FLIGHT SIMULATOR product to retailers or is it simply no longer available in stores when stock is gone?3. Will MS continue to make existing FS update downloads available from their servers? If they have abandoned all development/support staff, why continue to offer server updating?If the answer is negative for the last two- then there is no entry possible for new simmers and our hobby eventually dies.Since the apparent reason for axing ACES is to save money- the answers to these questions seem negative.Alex Reid

I don't see any changes from what is happening right now. The FSInsider website will continue but probably without any further site updates. You should be able to download any past updates as always. If not, I'm sure AVSIM, for one, will maintain past product updates.The weather server will probably continue as always. Microsoft fired the Aces Team, not the servers.You should still be able to purchase FSX or FS2004 or FS2002 or FS2000 as long as it remains on anyones shelves. I doubt they will be producing more copies. If you can't find it at your local store, there are several sites on the Internet which still sell the product.Microsoft is a huge organization with many tenacles stretching around the world and they will continue on as usual. Aces was a small entity within Microsoft that conducted mainly research and development, not the distribution, advertising or other mundane tasks. I think they did maintain FSInsiders though but further maintenance can easily be handled by Microsoft staff employees.Best regards,Jim

You should still be able to purchase FSX or FS2004 or FS2002 or FS2000 as long as it remains on anyones shelves. I doubt they will be producing more copies. If you can't find it at your local store, there are several sites on the Internet which still sell the product.

Actually, I doubt they will stop producing new copies of FSX until they don't sell anymore. As long as someone buys the discs, they will keep making money :(, and I think there will be quite a few people who will want to buy a copy of FSX for quite some time.