I have a Hotmail account and most of the unwanted emails I receive in the Hotmail account are from Microsoft themselves. I also have a Gmail account and I don't remember Google sending many emails.I think why people are harder on Microsoft than most software companies has to do with size. How come some small companies put out seemingly superior products with fewer bugs than a company with the resources behind it such as Microsoft. Perhaps Microsoft has gotten too big, as in IBM big and we all know where that can lead.Regards, Mike Mann

I have a Hotmail account and most of the unwanted emails I receive in the Hotmail account are from Microsoft themselves. I also have a Gmail account and I don't remember Google sending many emails.I think why people are harder on Microsoft than most software companies has to do with size. How come some small companies put out seemingly superior products with fewer bugs than a company with the resources behind it such as Microsoft. Perhaps Microsoft has gotten too big, as in IBM big and we all know where that can lead.Regards, Mike Mann

name these superior products with fewer bugs plz . just a handful . thx  :(

name these superior products with fewer bugs plz . just a handful . thx :(

The adjective I used was "seemingly" superior. Seemingly definition: in appearance but not necessarily in actuality.Some of these products are other operating systems I have compared in the past (Apple, Atari and Amiga) compared to Windows 1.0 in 1985-1986. I switched from Microsoft Office to Open Office a few years ago and was able to create PDF documents without addons. I switched from Internet Explorer to Firefox also a few years ago and eliminated the multitude of viruses I used to get back in the day.Regards, Mike Mann

Anyone want to post the contents of future newsletters on this thread so those who won't want to sign up can read them?

mmann: your defence against viruses starts with your web browser? You should really turn UAC back on :)

mmann: your defence against viruses starts with your web browser? You should really turn UAC back on :)

My internet computer is a laptop running Windows XP, hence no UAC. The laptop came with Vista but with only 1GB ram and an Intel GMA 950 for video, running Vista was an excercise in futility.Regards, Mike Mann

Anyone want to post the contents of future newsletters on this thread so those who won't want to sign up can read them?

I'll do it. :(

I'd like to second the motion of a coupon for free chicken in particular. mmmm... free... chicken.Al

No matter what you do...Don't fall for the free chicken offer. I am sure Bill Gates just wants to find out who all eats chicken!! He and all Microsoft workers are busy 24 hours a day compiling a list of Chicken eaters just like they want all the secret email addresses of the whinners and trolls who pass thru here daily.

Anyone else find it ironic that people are complaining about having to sign up for something, on a forum that they had to sign up to post on? Just an observation....

Well, it's true you do have to sign up to write stuff on Avsim, but if you just visit Avsim's forums without signing in, or even without being a member, you can still look at the vast majority of the forums, including this one. Thus you can still obtain information from Avsim without actually signing up for anything if you choose not to reveal anything about yourself.That is not the case with the MS Flight page, you need to install Silverlight to view the movies and you need to sign up to MSN to view the additional promotional info; that's the difference.Al

Microsoft does things that way. I don't even get to see their videos until someone posts them as Flash videos.Microsoft says I need Silverlight and I decided to put a stop to their insistence at bloating my computer with their version of what someone else has done successfully before!Regards, Mike Mann

Except you also need silverlight for Netflix. There must be something good about it. I haven't had any issues with it installed.

Can we just stop wining about having to create an MSN account or install silverlight? If you want to, good for you. If you don't, well, that's your own decision and stop complaining about how horrible these things are.@FlyingsCool: I agree, there has to be something good about silverlight. And there is. You get to view the Flight website.

I don't see what the problem is, its a microsoft product, why shouldn't you have to sign up to get the news letter? It's hardly a big deal. If you're worried about spam, create a 'free' hotmail account just for flight and sign up with that.

I just signed up using my Windows LIVE account which is tied to a Gmail junk box that forwards to my true email. Can't see any problem, you can log into LIVE and unsubscribe if you want, no big deal.

Except you also need silverlight for Netflix. There must be something good about it. I haven't had any issues with it installed.

Except I have no need for Netflix (in fact I had to Google it to see what it was). In honesty judging from most of the comments I have seen posted about Microsoft Flight, the videos and information provided so far haven't answered many questions.Regards, Mike Mann