If you are going to understand the reality and future of Flight, you have to look at the money. Here are the facts:Three years ago I bought FSX SP2 at Fry's for about $25.00 US. Microsoft probably received $15 of the 25. Although I have purchased many addons from vendors, Microsoft has never received another dime from me after the initial purchase of FSX.That is why the FSX development program was closed down. No future revenue stream for MS.The development of Flight is all about money. The reason why MS is giving the initial Flight away for free is because they intend to make money from your additional purchases.What does this mean for the future? There will be no SDK. Any third-party add-ons will be sold through MS and MS will get a cut of the money paid. There may not be any third-party addons at all. Microsoft may decide to be the only source of additional aircraft and scenery.The goal of Flight is to generate hundreds of dollars of additional expenditure from each user for years to come. As an aside about how Microsoft works:For years I have been using Microsoft Office XP. It does everything I want it to. When I upgraded to Windows 7, it was no longer possible to register Office XP through the usual channels. I found on the internet that you can still register Office XP if you call Customer Support and speak to a live representative. Why did Microsoft disable online registration of XP Office? Because they want me to buy the newest version of Office. I would not be surprised that at some time in the future, Microsoft will stop selling FSX and make it as difficult to register as office XP.

If you are going to understand the reality and future of Flight, you have to look at the money. Here are the facts:Three years ago I bought FSX SP2 at Fry's for about $25.00 US. Microsoft probably received $15 of the 25. Although I have purchased many addons from vendors, Microsoft has never received another dime from me after the initial purchase of FSX.That is why the FSX development program was closed down. No future revenue stream for MS.The development of Flight is all about money. The reason why MS is giving the initial Flight away for free is because they intend to make money from your additional purchases.What does this mean for the future? There will be no SDK. Any third-party add-ons will be sold through MS and MS will get a cut of the money paid. There may not be any third-party addons at all. Microsoft may decide to be the only source of additional aircraft and scenery.The goal of Flight is to generate hundreds of dollars of additional expenditure from each user for years to come. As an aside about how Microsoft works:For years I have been using Microsoft Office XP. It does everything I want it to. When I upgraded to Windows 7, it was no longer possible to register Office XP through the usual channels. I found on the internet that you can still register Office XP if you call Customer Support and speak to a live representative. Why did Microsoft disable online registration of XP Office? Because they want me to buy the newest version of Office. I would not be surprised that at some time in the future, Microsoft will stop selling FSX and make it as difficult to register as office XP.

Exactly. Good analysis of the business case.

For the 200th time we have to see this? Good analysis Trevor? You have to be kidding me. This is a simple copy of at least 30 previous messages here saying the same thing. Some analysis. Now closed.