I finally purchased an upgrade to ASA on May 15, because the latest was that SP1 was about ready. I was just not willing to betatest before that and there were various issues (for FS9 users). I installed the program and the beta available at the time, since then I have installed two more beta versions and experienced my fair share of bugs. In fact, I just submitted another one, ASA has encountered a problem and needs to close... Nooooooo! I had been using AS 6/6.5 for years and never had a problem as far as I can remember. It was and still is a very good, clean, clear program. Yet with ASA, it's one (slow...) headache after the other to the point that I'm gonna go back to AS 6.5.The news page in ASA that I thought was interesting hasn't been updated since May 13. A spambot is spamming HiFi's own forum and nobody is doing anything about it (like shutting it down already).Suffice it to say, I'm not impressed, just what happened?

Hi Mike,1. Damian had some real world stuff and then took some time to get caught up with everything.2. I had some real world stuff near the same time and was away.3. The forum was set up due to AVSIM being down and we are not sure if we are going to keep it or not. We don't really think one bot on the general forum is causing that much of an issue.4. There has been news posted on 5-25 and 5-26.5. Right now we are troubleshooting a few issues and then hope to have a final SP Build out very soon.Thanks!

Fair enough if you've had some real world stuff to sort out, although HiFi Sim is hardly a charity producing freeware. And I've seen you post in some other forums, so surely someone has had one or two minutes to get rid of the spam in past four days and five hours (created column) it has been there. It's what it represents, to both new and old customers. And the fact that I still see it after posting this topic is odd to say the least. I'd rather you remove it instead of replying to me. :( As for the news, in ASA I see http://www.hifisim.com/ASAUserHome/ and it hasn't been updated since May 13. Even though much has happened since then.Finally, did my first flight back with AS 6.5 and it was a delight, you really got it right with that program.

Mike - There are some people lilke myself who would much rather HiFi keep working on the update than spend time removing spam from a little used website. To use that as a criteria of quality of product is a tad picayune.Everyone is entitled to their opinion but in my case, my response is "who cares?"The product is sound for the majority of users and HiFi is working diligently to clean up loose ends that affect some folks. I call that attention to detail.Just MHO,Vic

Mike, no disrespect, but I would rather they work on the update as well, as it definitely needs more attention than a spambot.Vic,"The product is sound for the majority of users and HiFi is working diligently to clean up loose ends that affect some folks".About the only part of that statement I agree with, and hope, is that they are working diligently (of course understanding that lately some more important life matters have taken precedence), and what is your definition of sound?I wish I could see someones system that doesn't have a problem with either: Departure Visibility/Depiction, Enroute Visibility/Depiction, Arrival Visibility/Depiction, Cloud's popping in and out, Clouds at the wrong flight level, Temp problems (I don't have), Wind shifts (I don't have), and the various other concerns that users have here, and at the HiFi website on a daily basis, these are far from loose ends. Perhaps what I and others see as problems, are just accepted by some to be limitations, or just things that have always been an issue, and are never going to go away. How can you say that the majority have no problems? Was there some kind of questionnaire or a pole that I missed. I think "the majority" of users have some or all of the concerns/problems that I have listed, and are patiently/QUIETLY waiting for the service pack. Vic, if you NEVER have any of the problems listed above, lucky you, but I think you might find that you are the minority, maybe I'm wrong.Just MHO, not an attack.Glen

There are some people lilke myself who would much rather HiFi keep working on the update than spend time removing spam from a little used website.

Why spend time on creating a little used website in the first place? Makes no sense to do so and then let it be spammed and not do anything about it.*Shrugs*But yes, let them finish SP1.

Why spend time on creating a little used website in the first place? Makes no sense to do so and then let it be spammed and not do anything about it.*Shrugs*But yes, let them finish SP1.

As Jim said in item#3 - Avsim was down and no one knew for how long so the HiFi forum was quickly put together to benefit the users. Obviously all tyhe bot traps etc were not in place. But again - 'who cares' comes to mind. When time permits, it will probably be shut down or the spam removed.Vic

Mike, no disrespect, but I would rather they work on the update as well, as it definitely needs more attention than a spambot.Vic,"The product is sound for the majority of users and HiFi is working diligently to clean up loose ends that affect some folks".About the only part of that statement I agree with, and hope, is that they are working diligently (of course understanding that lately some more important life matters have taken precedence), and what is your definition of sound?I wish I could see someones system that doesn't have a problem with either: Departure Visibility/Depiction, Enroute Visibility/Depiction, Arrival Visibility/Depiction, Cloud's popping in and out, Clouds at the wrong flight level, Temp problems (I don't have), Wind shifts (I don't have), and the various other concerns that users have here, and at the HiFi website on a daily basis, these are far from loose ends. Perhaps what I and others see as problems, are just accepted by some to be limitations, or just things that have always been an issue, and are never going to go away. How can you say that the majority have no problems? Was there some kind of questionnaire or a pole that I missed. I think "the majority" of users have some or all of the concerns/problems that I have listed, and are patiently/QUIETLY waiting for the service pack. Vic, if you NEVER have any of the problems listed above, lucky you, but I think you might find that you are the minority, maybe I'm wrong.Just MHO, not an attack.Glen

Glen - No attack taken - fortunately I do not have MOST of those troubles. Some, IMHO, are purely subjective - where I don't see popping, others see popping.No polls taken but the majority (there's that word again) of people who post have an issue. Consider the number of users who do not post because the do not have a problem.Reading the support forum of ANY product that has been just released can easily give a flase impression.Vic

Hello Vic,Not to beat this anymore than is needed, but when you say "Some, IMHO, are purely subjective", you loose me. As an end user who has paid money (more than once) for a program, any program, I don't expect to be a life long beta tester. This is not a new program, it's an ongoing attempt over many years to "get it right" (my words). The only new aspect, which isn't really new anymore, is Simconnect, and we all know that has nothing to do with FS9. Like many others, I still use FS9 which has now been out for almost 6 years, and I still have the same problems that I had starting with ActiveSky 2004. Are some aspects of it better, sure, the interface is a lot more advanced, more options to play with, but these are meaningless / worthless if what I see while flying is incorrect. I want (would like) a simple program that gets the weather for the area I'm flying in, and then injects a proper representation of that weather into FS9 with smooth transitions along the way. I still don't have that, 25% of the time it's close, 75% it's not, that's not acceptable. Do I want a refund, no, I want to enjoy flying with properly depicted real weather, and lets face it, there aren't any alternatives, at least not with Activeskys potential, so I still have hope. Glen