I'm really sceptic about this, I have a feeling this will be a game only and it'll have nothing to do with an actual simulation. If it was a real deal, MS would make sure to provide more info about it to our community? If it is in fact a continuation of the series developed and marketed by a completely brand new FS team, I can see majority of the current 3rd party developers going out of business as I'm sure add-on licensing will not be cheap, knowing MS and their greed when it comes to any licenses for their products.

I'm really sceptic about this, I have a feeling this will be a game only and it'll have nothing to do with an actual simulation. If it was a real deal, MS would make sure to provide more info about it to our community. If it is in fact a continuation of the series developed and marketed by a completely brand new FS team, I can see majority of the current 3rd party developers going out of business as I'm sure add-on licensing will not be cheap, knowing MS and their greed when it comes to any licenses for their products.

The add-on market (freeware and payware) is what has kept FS alive all these years. The old MSFS dev team knew that. What the current groups knows one could only speculate.Kill 3rd party addons and you kill Flightsim.But, hopefully, someone from MS will arrive on scene and clarify everything so we don't all get lost in pointless speculation.As a developer, though, my biggest fear is not really the Apple Store concept (which admittedly is a bit irksome as it takes away a bit from the rapport and direct contact I have with my customer bases)... my biggest concern is that instead of having one dominant Flightsim platform, you're going going to have a hugely fractured user base with some users sticking to MS Flight, some going to Aerosoft's new sim, some to X-Plane, and some to whatever else is coming out.Developing for one platform is hard enough as it is.... Developing for three or more would be problematic to say the least.

Hello AllPlease excuse my ignorance,but what is this "live" business.Does it mean the sim(game) will only be playable on-line?If so then I don't fancy that at all.Apart from that lets see what occurs.cheersAndy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_LiveSounds like Live has binaries that work offline too. I guess the million dollar question will be do you have to get XBOX to run it?

I like the new name; Microsoft Flight ... I feel the new name gives the franchise a new and fresh feel, which is probably the reason why they changed it.Flight Simulator 11 does sound pretty boring.

Ya, it simplifies the look. Also, then they don't have to print "Simulator" how many millions of times on the box?

The final product can be whatever it need to be to sell boxes, a game, a simultaor whateverAs long as it's a framework which we can plug addons into then we will be fine. Since Orbx has announced they will be releasing products for it, then I am guessing it will be.I am very happy today.

Well, it seems like one major developer, Aerosoft, is not on a NDA:Hugo

Not on the NDA.... :( After all that blind support for FSX they should be the first on the list. B) Talk about lack of appreciation on Microsoft's part (well I guess their competition now)... :(

If that's true, that's really going to shake up the addon industry. I really hope it's not the case.

This won't be a big issue as everyone in the more serious world of simulation will stay with FSX or FS9 like what we see happening today. You'll have your 'Flight' a really excited user stating how more efficient 'Flight' is over FSX and the rift in the community will continue. :(

What is the status of the Aerosoft's simulator? Does anyone know?

Kill 3rd party addons and you kill Flightsim.

I couldn't agree more!Wolfgang

The add-on market (freeware and payware) is what has kept FS alive all these years. The old MSFS dev team knew that. What the current groups knows one could only speculate.Kill 3rd party addons and you kill Flightsim.But, hopefully, someone from MS will arrive on scene and clarify everything so we don't all get lost in pointless speculation.As a developer, though, my biggest fear is not really the Apple Store concept (which admittedly is a bit irksome as it takes away a bit from the rapport and direct contact I have with my customer bases)... my biggest concern is that instead of having one dominant Flightsim platform, you're going going to have a hugely fractured user base with some users sticking to MS Flight, some going to Aerosoft's new sim, some to X-Plane, and some to whatever else is coming out.Developing for one platform is hard enough as it is.... Developing for three or more would be problematic to say the least.

I agree Bryan, that's why I think all the big player's in the addon business are going to have to get together over a few drinks and decided what's what. If they all lean in a common direction that will be my sim of choice.

I don't know about all this now, I don't know if I should be excited or not? I like the idea of Aerosoft developing the sim for several different reasons and the major one is the understanding of what the community actually needs and want by being involved and talking to us.I don't doubt MS and their many years of experience, not to mention huge financial backing, but I was actually getting excited that Aerosoft would make a platform wanted and welcomed by everyone.

Logging in - yes. Subscription fee - not likely. I own many Games for Windows - LIVE titles, but none of them have you pay for your subscription.I really don't know what to think of this. on the one hand I'm happy MS continues with F(S), but on the other hand I fear this will be a "gamer's" addition of FS...

Maybe 'Live' is an option not a must have for use. You'll have the option to use it as a stand alone if so desired. That would be the best case scenario... Are all 'Live' games a must you have to be logged on to use them?

No one even seemed to bother to verify the date before copying the article and posting it on their own websites. It read 2009, which is unmistakable a typo....Since now the MS article has August 17th 2010 in the article. Still...checking the text before blindly copying should be mandatory

The following link sets out Microsoft's requirements for Games for Windows. It also mentions " third-party components" or middleware which also has to pass the compliance tests.http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee417691(VS.85).aspx

I guess ORBX will now have their chance to create the whole world in one shot!

I will say that I'm not very exited about this, but we'll see. To those worried about FS being dumbed down, think about this: it already is. If it weren't for your add-ons, would ever even use FS? I sure wouldnt. The default planes are a joke. If it weren't for the add-on developers there wouldnt be a market for FS, so as long as they offer some form of addon ability, and the interface is is just like simconnect (or better) I dont think we need to be worried. They may even fix the weather engine ...

I don't know what to think about all of this :( . The full beauty of FSX has only just come to fruition in my opinion in the last year or so thanks to 3rd party developers and hardware advancements. I'm sure this NEW sim will be neat somewhere down the line, but for the short term future I'm going to be content with what I have. I do think ORBX involvement can only be a good thing, if true, but we'll need to wait and see - my uneducated guess is 8-12 months before we hear ANY further news about it. I'll remain cautiously optimistic in the mean time without getting my hopes up too much.