It is good news that Microsoft will be giving us a patch for FS2004. I am looking forward to what new changes have been made to make it better product.

I hear ya John. for those of use that haven't really had the problems some of the others had, this is just as exciting, from good to great!Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/PBTMCa.jpgCalVirAir International VACalVirAir International

I thought I was hallucinating when I saw "Microsoft Announces FS2004 Update" at AVSim.com :-lol-It's great to see that they will fix the autogen accumulation bug...though I DID post detailed instructions on how to reproduce this bug over 1 YEAR AGO.....:-eek This bug has been one of the most annoying problems with FS2004 for me over the past year.Also nice to see support for 19 mesh (the max of FS2004 is currently only 38m). This will allow sceneries like VFR Terrain and Switzerland Pro to finally display in full detail in FS2004.Those who suffered from the CTD bug will also like this update :)"Beyond that all he would say is that we can expect more of the same sort of improvements we saw going from FS02 to FS04. IMO those were significant improvements indeed!"They added a few planes that nobody flies, and new clouds. On the other hand they cut the terrain resultion in half compared to FS2002 and introduced a slew of bugs that we've had to deal with for a year now...I was underwhelmed with the improvements FS2004 brought over FS2002.

a "slew" of bugs? Don't you think thats a bit of an overstatement? I'm glad they are releasing a patch, but either way I wouldn't be going back to 2002...

2 "showstoppers" such as the Autogen-default.xml bug and the seasonal CTD bug alone are enough to justify an immediate patch. The new Default.xml autogen was advertised as a "key feature" on their website for Pete's sake...and I think I first posted about the problems with this feature in late August 2003.My question is Why now? We have known about all those bugs and errors for 1 year and decided to live with them...and now they finally decide to release a patch almost at the end of the life cycle of FS9... :-hmmm Where was this patch when we needed it? Like 1 year ago when I was struggling to get decent performance out of FS9 without sacrifing the new autogen objects? Where was the patch when FS9 started crashing last winter and I had to edit bloody .cfg files just to get stock scenery working?

You really should consider getting out more.As they always say...I guess no good dead goes unpunished.Amazing.Jim Rhoads

Does this mean FS2006 is going to be late?Can't see why they'd release a patch now otherwise.Allcott

If they fix the problems and give us new accurate terrain. Then who needs FS2006 for now. I can wait.

Hi Allcott,A post from twsimfan, (Tom Wunder)http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...esg_id=38&page=One of the MS guys told me today that we should expect "news of" the next version in 6 to 10 months. He also hinted that some of the older planes would get a (much needed) makeover and that there "might" be some new ones. Beyond that all he would say is that we can expect more of the same sort of improvements we saw going from FS02 to FS04. IMO those were significant improvements indeedThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

Yes, I read that too. That's not a timeline, that's a speculative negotiating position. I deal with suppliers every day who tell me they'll give me news, but they don't ever give me product! MS have never given much advance warning of release dates, but they have always released in the last quarter. I do wonder whether this patch is supposed to tide us over until FS2007.Allcott

Hi Allcott, If you have seen before, Normaly Ms announce the new Msfs title in the same years of the release date, approx 78 month before the release date.ThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

I am very pleased to see that a patch is on the way. This is a tremendous advancement for the FS product as it now means future releases will be patched if needed. As for FS2006....I can wait. The thought of tweaking, adding, updating and generally messing around with a new version to get it where I like it is something I just don't look forward to.Thanks MS.Mark.

Im glad its also an update, because i dont need a patch, it works just fine for me as it is.But its great if they fixed some of the probs others have.OHN

Well..I guess it is good news, but, I still won't be purchasing FS2006. I won't buy any product from any company that takes 14-15 MONTHS to even acknowledge that there is a problem in the first place.Sorry MS, but, you guys really need to overhaul your customer relations policy if you want to keep ME as a customer, because this is ridiculous.I wasn't even able, or better, willing, to use FS2004 until Peted Dowson fixed the wind bug. I didn't see that one in the list either, hmmm.When I saw the headline, after determining it wasn't some sort of joke, I actually felt a twinge of anger, initially. Many people have argued over the past year, that while some features of FS are broken, or not exactly what they should be, we can all still use the sim to fly, so MS has delivered what we payed for.Technically, this is true, but....I don't do business that way, and I have a very hard time putting money in the pocket of anyone that does.So, MS, if you're reading, here ya go:Prove to me with the 2006 cycle that you can do it right, that you can support your paying customers a little better than this, and maybe we'll talk in 2008.I don't expect you to ever get it perfect, but, as a series customer since 95, I feel I deserve better than what has been of late.Best of luck.

Isn't it the final proof for those who claimed here Microsoft is abandoning the FS frenchise. *:-*Michael J.WinXP-Home,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8, Radeon X800 Pro,WD 36GB Raptor,1 GB PC3200 http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg