Late Starter

I am starting very late, concerning FS2004, due to the seven (SEVEN!) weeks it took to the Portuguese Customs to clear the package I had ordered from the Avsim Store.Now it is running and I already have some questions that I am sure the veterans with FS9 will be able to clarify:a) I have read that the 3D clouds are the most important reason for the framerate reduction (when compared with FS2k2) that is usually experienced. I have chosen "Simple clouds" but the result in the rate is not noticeable. Should I expect this? I usually had more than 30 fps, now sometimes it is below 15...:( Contrarily to what happened in FS2k2, it is now possible (again) to control the heading of the aircraft with the AP controlling the altitude. Meanwhile the LVL control disappeared (at least in the 737). Why has this been changed? Too many complaints in relation to the way the AP operated in FS2k2 (I was always said this would be more realistic). Why has the LVL option disappeared?c) Why has MS returned to obligation of having the last disk in the drive to run the simulator? Would it not be better to have followed the current practice of requesting the software activation? This is rather cumbersome, at least to someone that uses the computer for tasks other than flight simulation...That is all for now!Regards,