Current stats on this question for the 6 month period- Oct/09 thru March/10 show 80 new responses for FS9 & 70 for FSX.Since you can vote only once, these are new votes- presumably weighted toward newcomers to our hobby.The absolute numbers are small and probably not statistically significant- other than to show that neither sim is dominant; with FS9 appearing to be comfortably holding its own.Alex Reid

"with FS9 appearing to be comfortably holding its own"Got to agree with that.JimCYWG

I honestly suspect is has more to do with system requirements than anything else. The only time I've ever heard of FSX running smooth with higher settings is with overclocking and fast gear. The average person won't be able to do that, so do you go with the prettier and newer option, or the older and more reliable option.

or the older and more reliable option.

:(

Something I've monitored for some time (casually) is the number of people viewing the various forum "rooms"...Without fail, the FS2004 forum seems to always have about 1/2 the number of users viewing the forum as the FSX forum, sometimes fewer... At the time of this posting, FS2004 is at at 16 users viewing, and FSX is at 47 users viewing. That figure speaks volumes to me, as it shows the number of users (members and anonymous) gathering information on the various sims, and every time I've looked there is always more people in the FSX side. (For comparison's sake, Hanger Chat has 1 user... me... viewing it right now) Although not an "active" poll, I think the fact that the FSX forum is one of if not the most active rooms on the AVSIM forums is a telltale sign of the trend. I acknowledge this has no direct bearing on what sims people may actually be using, but I think it there is some correlations which can be drawn. And I am not advocating for one sim over the other... just noticing the trends. :) -Greg

The trend probably reflects the diminishing number of new releases for FS9 more than the number of users of either sim IMO.

Something I've monitored for some time (casually) is the number of people viewing the various forum "rooms"...Without fail, the FS2004 forum seems to always have about 1/2 the number of users viewing the forum as the FSX forum, sometimes fewer... At the time of this posting, FS2004 is at at 16 users viewing, and FSX is at 47 users viewing. That figure speaks volumes to me, as it shows the number of users (members and anonymous) gathering information on the various sims, and every time I've looked there is always more people in the FSX side. (For comparison's sake, Hanger Chat has 1 user... me... viewing it right now) Although not an "active" poll, I think the fact that the FSX forum is one of if not the most active rooms on the AVSIM forums is a telltale sign of the trend. I acknowledge this has no direct bearing on what sims people may actually be using, but I think it there is some correlations which can be drawn. And I am not advocating for one sim over the other... just noticing the trends. :) -Greg

Interesting- but I wonder if the number of viewers of a forum, represents mostly simmers with problems looking for solutions- or folks with solutions interested in helping out with problems? Alex Reid

Interesting- but I wonder if the number of viewers of a forum, represents mostly simmers with problems looking for solutions- or folks with solutions interested in helping out with problems? Alex Reid

I think you got that first part right. Most people, esp if they are anonymous, I would bet are there looking for solutions to problems. Reality is, fs9 has a group that has been with it longer, and we've fixed most problems.

I honestly suspect is has more to do with system requirements than anything else. The only time I've ever heard of FSX running smooth with higher settings is with overclocking and fast gear. The average person won't be able to do that, so do you go with the prettier and newer option, or the older and more reliable option.

I

Interesting- but I wonder if the number of viewers of a forum, represents mostly simmers with problems looking for solutions- or folks with solutions interested in helping out with problems? Alex Reid

Ok-Alex-I had the stats until avsim was hacked and we started the new forum software-from years ago when fsx was released......Fsx was running 2x-3x the posts from the start..let's assume from the start is was because all of the problems you mention.So for the 4 years since fsx has been out-those who started with it have had continual problems and continue to post these problems-thus the number of posts -seems like these simmers including me need a Darwin award if so.......and 4 years later there are just continual lemmings who continue buy the software-and then jump off the cliff posting these problems (never mind fsx by microsoft's figures years ago fsx was the best selling fs title ever in history)Once again-doesn't it seem like it is time to bury the horse? ...period....there are lots who still enjoy flight Unlimited/Fly/Xplane/fs2002.Enjoy your 3 monitors while I enjoy tracker ir-and enjoy your sim-and let it rest....we are all a community-what difference does it make which sim/setup turns us on?

Interestingly, whenever I crank up the Air Hauler Online 'radar', showing who is flying what aircraft to which destination, it's almost always the case that there are only one or two people using FS2004, by a long way the vast majority seem to be on FSX from my observations.Al

....we are all a community-what difference does it make which sim/setup turns us on?

True. I wish most people took to this view instead of the continuous arguments about FS9 vs FSX. Fly both and see which one's better for you.For me its FS9 because of the ton of great scenery, planes and environment upgrades I have for it. Also, most importantly, the Project Tupolev Tu-154 does not work in FSX (and I'd have to buy a new FSX compatible version of the Level-D B767 and all the rest........). I simply have way too much stuff (payware and freeware) for FS9 that I am really happy with. If I didn't have those I would have probably completely converted to FSX by now.I guess new users would prefer FSX straight off and wouldn't even consider the older version, but a lot of the experienced people still use FS9 because of the large variety of really great add-ons (and unlike FSX a lot of them are freeware). Also in terms of flight handling and dynamics - there is no difference between the two sims, so many of the experienced users do not see the point of switching just for the sake of graphics, especially when FS9 can look remarkably good with the right add-ons. I do fly in both, but spend most of my time in FS9 because of the wider choice of scenery and airplanes I have for it (and the PT Tu-154!).

--------------------------------what difference does it make which sim/setup turns us on?

Geofa-The developers of airplanes, scenery and various other addons for FS are very definitely interested in our sim "turn ons".To say nothing of prospective creators of entirely new sims.Paraphrasing an old saying- 'A set of hard numbers is worth a thousand opinions.'Alex Reid

Geofa-The developers of airplanes, scenery and various other addons for FS are very definitely interested in our sim "turn ons".To say nothing of prospective creators of entirely new sims.Paraphrasing an old saying- 'A set of hard numbers is worth a thousand opinions.'Alex Reid

I have to side with Alex on this.We're at a point where more and more developers are questioning whether it's worth the effort and expense to create products for FS9, and some, like PDMG, have clearly decided it's not. As such, it's important that simmers who prefer FS9 make their preference known.Carenado also decided to develop exclusively for FSX, but reversed their decision when enough FS9 users contacted them and said they would love (i.e. purchase) an FS9 version of their C-172. FS9 users spoke up, and they -- and Carenado -- are richer for it.As Geoff has noted many times, debates over which is the "better" sim are fruitless, but there's nothing wrong in letting our fellow simmers and developers know what we like.

Something I've monitored for some time (casually) is the number of people viewing the various forum "rooms"...Without fail, the FS2004 forum seems to always have about 1/2 the number of users viewing the forum as the FSX forum, sometimes fewer... At the time of this posting, FS2004 is at at 16 users viewing, and FSX is at 47 users viewing. That figure speaks volumes to me, as it shows the number of users (members and anonymous) gathering information on the various sims, and every time I've looked there is always more people in the FSX side. (For comparison's sake, Hanger Chat has 1 user... me... viewing it right now) Although not an "active" poll, I think the fact that the FSX forum is one of if not the most active rooms on the AVSIM forums is a telltale sign of the trend. I acknowledge this has no direct bearing on what sims people may actually be using, but I think it there is some correlations which can be drawn. And I am not advocating for one sim over the other... just noticing the trends. :) -Greg

There's less support issues with FS9 these days. I for one spend more time flying the sim than tweaking or surfing these forums.