"The only real dealbraker for me is lack of native TrackIR support. TrackIR is essential for any kind of VFR flying unless you're on a 180 projected screen or something. Before I got TrackIR I never flew VFR. I only used Flight Sim for IFR training."Apparently TRackIr works fine in Prepar3D through Ezdok, just not natively in Prepar3D at this time.

Well, as i have posted elsewhere, I dont think Prepar3D is the current solution to the flight simulator. It is the FUTURE. As their development moves on and they provide improvements more and more people will switch to it especially considering the DX11 plans. And more 3rd party devs will switch to it as well. Personally, this whole thing of licensing i think is a red herring. They say it is for "educational" purposes but what stops a person from entertaining themselves with it under the guise of "education"? After all how many of us are in this hobby because of the learning experience that it provides even if it never gets used? Are we forgetting the fun in learning? Also, Lockheed has been encouraging 3rd party development. So I dont see what all the fuss is about....

The Academic license wording looks to me like a 'semantics exercise', which as someone has also already noted, is probably so that they stay within the letter of the contract as far as their purchasing agreement with MS ESP is concerned, and whom they can sell it to. The description of who qualifies for an educational license purchase certainly has the nebulous feel of something written by a lawyer. Pretty much anyone qualifies for it. Flight simming has always been educational, and it will always be educational. The fact that we enjoy it is neither here nor there from a legal standpoint.Al

I bought it @ $50. Because that is acceptable price for me. "Home". I bet there a tons of us out there that have already spend $50 on the Hawaiian Islands and a couple of planes in Flight.I installed it, it went smoothly, totally separate HD from FSX....the load up screens say Academic License Version (is there some differences between this and the Professional Version)? I don't think so. My first foray into it, after messing about with the settings, I am getting no improved FPS over a base FSX. I am however not seeing any micro stutters. Seems to call upon more memory than FSX.My FSX is tweaked to death and runs like a precision jet fighter with tons of addons so now I wonder how can I tweak this baby into better performance?I can add all the addons later but want to get the base package working slick first. My wife will not likely see me until summer....lol.

I think you will find a precise definition of the word 'educational' in that license, but I doubt that anyone will ever try to check if you keep that promise. Me also says that LM is avoiding a clear 'end user' marked product by all means. Guess the rest.

The notion that PMDG are somehow the arbiters of whether P3D will be the software that dedicated simmers will go for, is at best unlikely, nor I imagine, would PMDG ever claim it to be otherwise. Their decision is merely one of business expediency for them at present.

OK, all a fair point.But tell me, of any developer out there, when a product is expecting, which company is mentioned most often? I don't want to take any sides, but just out of pure observation, when Aivlasoft brings a product out, there is a thread or two about it, if even that much, when A2A brings something new out, cool, two threads (remebering out of my head the topics about the AccuFeel), but when the PMDG NGX was coming out, there were virtually hundreds of threads, both here and in the PMDG forum, people expecting the one and only. I say again: it's just a feeling I have from observing the forums. I'm just talking about the most talked about products. Not the quality of them.

I think you are summing up the situation at Avsim, Word Not Allowed. The home base of PMDG, plus their fans. I have no doubt that this spot looks very PMDG-centric, but I think the market is way bigger than that one company in quality and quantity means. To be honest, I'm pretty happy about that last fact, allowing a diversity to establish, not a centred viewpoint. :(

Correct. Not saying the PMDG is the only quality developer, but if you see PMDG move there, it won't be a long time until everyone else does. I would just love to see everyone in the new boat rowing forward!

Yup, I certainly agree that PMDG are one of, if not the 'poster boys' of cutting edge payware modern airliners for flight simulator, which I will admit could sway some people.But it is a double-edged sword; just imagine if you could only get the A2A B-17G, Spitfire, Piper Cub, Boeing Stratocruiser, P-47, P-40, P-51, F-4, F-104 etc in P3D, or if you could only get the forthcoming super-realistic FSL A320 in X-Plane?; what do you think that would do? I reckon loads of people would be on those sims like a shot. This is the reality of how much one developer's influence could really affect things.Al

Just in case anyone is in any doubt, here's the related EULA definition in full:"Academic Education" means education programs for elementary through undergraduate students in fundamental academic disciplines such as science, technology, engineering and math, including history and social sciences related thereto, but NOT in connection with professional training or certification of any kind, including, but not limited to, military training, emergency responder training, commercial flight training, private pilot training, air traffic control training, airport ground control/logistics training, driver training or nautical training.The good news for me is that this means I do actually genuinely qualify for this on several counts, so I'm not even blagging it when I buy an academic license, since I do sometimes teach at universities, in fact I was doing exactly that on Monday of this week and will be teaching some people from UMIST next week as well. Incidentally, you can actually fill in a 'Company or Academic Institution' bit on your customer information, since it may just possibly be of relevance, which I did do, although it is not a compulsory section. Oh and by the way, the Academic version is a different exe file, so there are evidently some differences.Al

Correct. Not saying the PMDG is the only quality developer, but if you see PMDG move there, it won't be a long time until everyone else does.

Unfortunately, I think I don't share the enthusiasm on P3D with you, but aren't the PMDG birds more less already running in the LM sim? Asking because, if so, the train doesn't get stopped by the lack of those planes, right?

I would just love to see everyone in the new boat rowing forward!

I think at least my skepticism shows that the actual direction is the item that small community isn't too sure about. Can't blame them. :( The rowing power itself surely is present. :(

I can echo Jim's response, but to me it's like FSX out of the box, but it runs sweeter. The water, the coast lines and the scenery need a lot of work. I don't really think installing my FSX addons is worth the effort. I can't use my Precision Flight Controls with it

Why is that? My PFC drivers and FSUIPC4 work fine with Prepar3D. No one's reported any problems on my website and all my drivers are working with P3D here.Pete

My PFC yoke is working perfectly with both FSX and P3D.

I can echo Jim's response, but to me it's like FSX out of the box, but it runs sweeter. The water, the coast lines and the scenery need a lot of work. I don't really think installing my FSX addons is worth the effort. I can't use my Precision Flight Controls with it

and in addition, of course the coastlines and scenery need a lot of work. Its no different than FSX in that regard. What you are getting is a constantly updated platform.

Glenn - Pete didn't say that, I did.And, Pete - I am sorry but I hadn't installed FSUIPC4 and the PFC drivers. My mistake.Obviously, I must do some more work on Prepar3D and keep my opinions to myself.