I'm new to Carenado. First things first, is there any kind of product activation required? That's a deal-breaker for me as I like to keep software for DECADES. Seems not to be the case from what I can tell but I want to be sure.That said, I'm looking at getting at least one version of a C-152 and C-172, as well as at least one or two other Cessnas, but am curious as to which sim to buy for. I use FSX by far the most, hands down, followed by FS9. I have X-Plane 9 as well, though I very rarely play it. But if one or more of the Cessnas are good enough in terms of graphics, and especially physics and flyability, then I'd be willing to give it a shot.

There is a proof of purchase field in the installation process where you enter your email and a password that is emailed to the email that you used during the purchasing process and you enter that when you install the product. There is no limit to the amount of times that you can install one of their planes...I would suggest buying them for FSX since they have abandoned FS9 and don't supply updates for FS9 aircraft anymore. All of Carenado's aircraft perform exceptionally well in FSX on my rig and it's a run of the mill laptop. There are more Cessna's on the list of aircraft that they are going to produce including a 172RG and a 177/177RG!

Carenado products purchased at Aerosoft don't require activation. And there is a sale on Carenado products right now.

Hi P4CER,Greetings from 39N (Princeton, NJ). Thanks for the input. That sounds like product activation, though. I can't see how any email validation could go through without some kind of validation through some service, be it Carenado's, a third-party vendor, etc.Hi ricky76,Ok, I'll try one from Aerosoft. TBH, I'd love to buy the entire Cessna series, plus a Seneca. i'm going to buy a real one, a late-seventies 172N, in the next few years, but I don't think Carenado's version needs financing...;)

Ok, I bought the ski 172N for FSX. The Aerosoft version only needed that you enter your email address and a serial; it seems the serial is generated using your email as a seed, so no contact with the seller is necessary after purchase. Good idea, as it prevents serials from being distributed as easily without having to impose draconian product activation. It was so painless, so I bought the Skymaster 337.