Don't mean to start a WAR here....but I'm truly amazed that 2004 is still out there and still gets so many uploads. I've been doing FSX since the first day it was introduced, and within 2 days I deleted FS2004. To me, there is just no comparison when comparing the graphics and scenery. I certainly respect those that have "hung on" to the old FS, but I wonder if those users REALLY know what they're missing?FSX is so cool, and so close to the real deal, that I cannot ever imagine going back. Am I missing something here? Stan

I still use both FSX and FS2004. I see no need to uninstall FS2004 at the moment as it is more stable still then FSX. Granted the graphics (with addons of course) are better in FSX but I think with addons FS2004 can look just as good as FSX. The only reason for FSX at the moment is the NGX without it I'd still fly FS2004 to be honest. I have a top notch computer I7 4.1 with a GTX580 so I have no problem running either. I just still love both simulators.

Performance obviously comes to mind. Some people enjoy 2d bitmaps for cockpit views better and of course arn't supported in FSX. Some just don't want to change.

FSX is so cool, and so close to the real deal, that I cannot ever imagine going back. Am I missing something here? Stan

Hello StanYes you missed the fact that you are fortunate enough to afford the hardware in your sig, many others though are running dual cores or even older There are probably some folk around who dream of one day even being able to run FS9 well.For others it may just be priorities.Although primarily on FSX these days I still enjoy FS9, there is an ambience about that Sim, maybe the colour palette it uses I don't know.But it can still produce an amazingly engaging flight experience with the right addons.

Well one thing you are missing without FS9 is the best Russky payware add-on aircraft there is - the Supronov Design Yak-40. Can't get that for FSX, and that's a shame because it is every bit as good as anything PMDG have ever made. Al

Coincidentally, just last night I booted up FS9 for the first time in many, many months. I've got quite a number of addons installed (scenery, aircraft, environment upgrades, etc...) and initially, even with all of the sliders to the right, I was surprised by the rather dated look. (Orbx has spoiled me...) But then I loaded up a couple of flights and the smoothness, the UT traffic, and my addon aircraft really made me appreciate the old sim once again. I think once I upgrade my computer so that FSX is running at it's "peak" (if that is possible), I may finally say goodbye to FS9. But in the meantime, she'll stay for that occassional flight.

Yes Stan, you are missing out on the "to each their own" factor. What you do and what you think is irrelevant to what others do. So just because you changed on day 1 doesn't mean everyone feels the same.Other than that I think has topic has bean beaten to absolute death so i will not even weigh in.

Don't mean to start a WAR here....but I'm truly amazed that 2004 is still out there and still gets so many uploads. I've been doing FSX since the first day it was introduced, and within 2 days I deleted FS2004. To me, there is just no comparison when comparing the graphics and scenery. I certainly respect those that have "hung on" to the old FS, but I wonder if those users REALLY know what they're missing?FSX is so cool, and so close to the real deal, that I cannot ever imagine going back. Am I missing something here? Stan

I'm kind of in the same boat as you Stan but I dont dare bring up these type of conversations any more or rarely comment in them since it seems like they always end up in a heated argument about which one it better or what one sim can do that the other can't, etc.Like you I was am FS9'er since it came out and around the time I joined Avsim. I ran it on an old Dell with a 2.53 P5 and a 128MB card. Performance was ok, but not great, none the less I got thousands of hours of enjoyment out of it. Years later when FSX came out and they released the demo of the St. Maarten area I installed it and it just about crashed my old Dell since it was far more demanding that what that old rig could handle. After trying the demo I decided to stick to FS9 due to the fact it would require a computer upgrade and the fact that there were hardly any addons available for it.Fast forward to 2008. I decided to build a new rig which is still the same one I have now, but with the intention of using it for FS9 and skipping FSX. I enlisted the help of FS-GS to set it up from scratch and told them I wanted to go FS9 and skip FSX. Michael the FS-GS tech, twisted my arm and got my to try FSX instead and I have been using FSX ever since with virtually no issues like I read about on all the FS forums.For fun a about a year and a half ago I re-installed FS9 just for kicks to see how it would run on my updated rig. I spent about 3 days installing all my old addon sceneries, textures, a/c and utilities. Once I fired it up it brought back a lot of fond memories, that's for sure. Of course I was now getting like 100 FPS with everything cranked to the max, but to be honest after flying around for a few hours in a few different locations, I just couldn't take the dated looks of the ground and a/c VC's. I did however love the better snow and rain effects, but overall after my trip down memory lane, I ended up un-doing the install that I had spent 3 days ons.I guess I have been lucky with FSX. I read all the time about how FSX sucks for flying airliners, it crashes all the time, there is so much more scenery for FS9, and so forth. Well in my experience since April '08, it has been an extremely stable sim and is wonderfull for flying airliners as well as GA. Granted there is a lot more payware and freeware addon scenery for FS9, but I have finally gotten to the point that a lot of my favorite airports I want for FSX are finally available anyways. On the freeware scenery front, I have always been pretty picky about what I install and there are very few freeware developers that I choose to use anyway, so the fact that there is a lot more available for FS9 isn't a big deal due to the fact that I probably wouldn't use or install 99% of it anyways and I was the same when I was using FS9 back in the day. I dont care about having a lot of a/c since I am very specific about what I fly, which is 95% of the time the 737 or the 767, so having all kinds of Russian a/c or other hard to find planes that aren't available for FSX is a complete non-issue to me.Like Paul and the others said, to each their own and I frankly dont care what anyone else uses since I am not the one who has to see it. There are those who still feel that FS9 looks great, some feel that it looks better than FSX, and some say it can look almost as good as FSX. Everyones got a different view point on it. To me personally it looked horrible when I reinstalled it the last time and that was with GePro, Ultimate Terrain, and some photoreal packages. The sky looks about the same in either sim, but I just can't take the look of the FS9 ground and water textures any more. Not to say that FSX ground and water is perfect, but in my eyes it looks a lot better.FS9 for me was a great sim and I still have yet to rack up the same amount of time in FSX, altough I am getting pretty close, but with the new sceneries that have come out and are comming out, plus the fact that I finally got my PMDG 737 that I had so dearly been missing from FS9, there is no way in hell that I would ever return to FS9 after being spoiled with the sim I have set up now.I respect those who differ in their opinion and prefer FS9. If we all liked the same exact thing the world be a BORING place.Regards

congratulations for embracing fsx within 2 days of release.

I used FSX in the beginning as well. I actually was forced to buy a copy after the arrival the free one I expected from the AVSIM conference was delayed. I now have two copies. I used FSX for about 9 months and ditched it. I just couldn't get it to run smooth enough with add ons and traffic and since there were so few add ons available, it was just a boring mess. I became one of those FSX bashers. During the summer of 2009 my long lasting FS9 install died. I tried everything I could possibly think of (and anything people here suggested) to get it going again with no luck. I decided to reinstall FSX and the service packs (dropped FSX before those were released) and I was actually suprised that it was usable under certain circumstances. I figured it would tide me over until W7 was released and I could put together a new system. Two weeks before the release of W7, my old rig died. I built the new system just for FSX, set it up with Nicks specs and I was running FSX quite well. I have never looked back at all. My current rig does everything thing I need it to do with FSX. Sure, I'd like to upgrade within the next year but if you can't get FSX to run properly with lots of add ons on a fairly modern system, you are doing something wrong.

Don't mean to start a WAR here....but I'm truly amazed that 2004 is still out there and still gets so many uploads. I've been doing FSX since the first day it was introduced, and within 2 days I deleted FS2004. To me, there is just no comparison when comparing the graphics and scenery. I certainly respect those that have "hung on" to the old FS, but I wonder if those users REALLY know what they're missing?FSX is so cool, and so close to the real deal, that I cannot ever imagine going back. Am I missing something here? Stan

I think that the key is in the type of flying that you do. If a person loves VFR, he/she will be blown away by FTX sceneries and airports. If Airliners is what they like, then FS9 is a better platform. Even though FSX looks pretty, performance is nowhere near as good as FS9, especially with an older system. Finally, as been pointed out, many don't want to deal with the cost of upgrading and paying for new sceneries, airports, and airplanes, just to find that FSX, as pretty as it is, can be unreliable with CTDs, OOM errors, and lockups. Now it's a good time to lock this thread.

I have been satisfied with performance of FSX when I can actually get it to load beyond the selection menu. Sometimes it crashes during initial startup with splash screen still on. It's enough to make me almost go back to FS9. But the payware scenery and aircraft keep improving and eventually a lot of favorites that I used to use in F9 will either be available in FSX or XP10. It's all relative to the user and hopefully this topic doesn't lead to another "this sim is better than that sim" battle. So far I have found valuable information exchange. Even not too long ago I saw uploads for FS98 and FS2002 aircraft. My hat's off to anyone who is making the best of those versions as well. Never part with the dream no matter what your system can run or what you can afford. I say this as my FSX crashes for the 5th time in a row while selecting my favorite A36 Bonanza... I might even be inclined to re-install FS9 tonight! It has been a few years since I used it routinely and if someone can remind me can you do any of the following with FS9: Create and fly missions similar to those in FSX? Be towed by another aircraft when taking off in a sailplane? Use external ATC with nationality accents and voices in applications such as Radar Contact? Takeoff and land on moving aircraft carriers or other ships? I'm sure that when I re-install FS9 I will find some of the issues that caused me to uninstall it, but I am likely to find those items that work as well or better for me as in FSX.

I personally thought I would have never switched to FSX. In fact, it took me about 3 years to go FSX. FS 2004 is wonderful product and has everything we want or need. Going FSX is primarly for the "looks." However, to get those looks, you WILL need to spend some big bucks in hardware and some serious tweaking WILL be involed. Of course, if you have the bucks-- and you have a great passion for aviation--, you will go FSX. So, I went FSX..Yes, it is more beautiful, and developers and going alot more with FSX...However, as it's been noted: It comes with a price. If you can afford it and have the patience to tweak, and tweak, and tweeeeak...it is worthy!

Tweaking, Captain, if I spend anymore time tweaking, my passengers will all get out and walk... This is the story of my life. FSX is beautiful when it's up and running and tweaked well. But lately I have spent more time tweaking, modifying scenery, modifying aircraft and voicepacks and ai flightplans than actually flying. Most of my flying is just to see the changes and if the tweak works. The love/hate of flightsim is like the angel and devil over your shoulders when it comes to buying the newest payware or even downloading the newest freeware. Evil voice - "Buy it, buy it now, it's only $47 dollars!" Good voice - "Turn it off now or you will end up cursing at it all night"...

As a flight simmer since 1981 I see nothing unusual in this thread or the hype/ speculation over the next version-flight....If anyone wants to prove that history repeats itself I suggest flight simulation is the quickest proof :)I beta tested the ms series from fs 2000 (and propilot in the 90's along with Fly) but nothing really has changed since 1981..other than an amazing progress for simmers which happens with each version of each simSome stay with their sim of choice and some move on- but the fact is it is amazing what we now have-and most likely amazing what the future holds since the past has proven that.As far as "tweaks" -I personally believe them to be snake oil- but if it works for you go for it- as does the loyalty to any sim that turns you on.