hi all well November next yr will perhaps be the new release of FS2006 what are your thoughts, do you think they will release it then?

Not to fussed to be honest, in fact I hope they hold it off for another year, 2004 is great as it is.Dan.

I totally agree with Dan, I couldn't be happier with FS2004. Best RegardsBoone,[email protected]"Flying a plane is no different from riding a bicycle. It's just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes."

I'm not 100% satisfied with FS2004, but I still believe it would be better if Microsoft made their next sim "FS2007" instead. This would give them more time to really improve things like ATC/AI, the flight modelling and other crucial elements of the sim. It would also allow them to use more advanced visual effects using DX9 shaders because by late 2006 even low-end videocards will be at least as fast as the current high-end cards. A sim released 1 year from now would be yet another incremental update that would add 1 or 2 useful features and break compatibility with many addons - a new sim released two years from now would be revolutionary rather than evolutionary. I think this may be part of the reason why MS chose to finally release a much-needed patch for FS2004 - to hold us over until FS2007.

Couldn't agree with you more Jimmi.

Interesting comments. I would agree that MS should give it another year to make the next version more of a significant improvement rather than an incremental improvement. Imagine the change in the sim if it were created to take advantage of PCI Express video cards, which will be much more prevalent in the average computer in 2006 instead of a year from now in 2005. Add to that 64 bit technology for CPU's and MS's new Longhorn operating system.My understanding is MSFS is a new app every two versions, so FS 2000 was an enhanced FS98 and FS 2004 was an enhanced FS 2002. If this is the case, I would rather have MS really make the next version, FS10, which could be a base version for FS 11, into a revolutionary product instead of an evolutionary one.The potential problem with this approach is MS needs to make a return on the money that they have spent in creating FS10. If FS 9 is out for an additional year selling at 25 dollars (US), then it may not be viable from a business standpoint.

Microsoft isn't in the business of pleasing hardcore simmers; rather, it's in the business of making money with casual gamers, who, indeed, treat FS9 (or the previous iterations) as games. "Clicking buttons" and reading 700 page manuals is not what the average gamer does. Hence, I think Microsoft will continue it's product cycle of turning out a new sim every two years. I happily skipped over FS 2002 because it seemed only a minor improvement over FS 2000. I am now enjoying FS 2004.The way I see it is that every OTHER FS installment is a significant improvement. FS 98 improved on FS 95; FS 2000 was a significant improvment over FS 98; FS 2002 improved on FS 2000; but FS 2004 significantly improved on FS 2002, and so on. This way I get about 3 to 4 years out of what I buy. Most importantly, I can enjoy my add-ons a whole lot longer, rather than having to chuck them or deal with complicated patching procedures. (It's a great shame that some of the greatest add-ons ever made hardly work in FS 2004 or FS 2002 - Proflight 2000 anyone?)ricardo

I have tons of payware scenery installed in FS9. I have the PMDG stuff working flawlessly now as well. The PIC v2 is coming soon as well as the PMDG 744 and MD11. I for sure will not upgrade till all this stuff is patched and working good in FS10. That is why I always wait close to a year after the next FS release before I upgrade.

The question if fs2006 will be isn't to raised now. It's much too late. The core elements of every new version are discussed at the very beginning of the product cycle and not at half time. This means that how fs2006 will look like is already definitiv except of minor changes. The people at microsoft know, we don't...That's part of the game.:(They would probably be able to make more revolutionary changes when they start to provide sophisticated and easy to use tools to convert older designs into the new system. I wished bill gates would be aviation enthusiast too...:-rollAt least another guy from microsoft is...providing the space ship one crew around burt rutan with an awfull lot of money. Hopefully he can take some influence and bring flight simulator there where it should be - as real as it gets...best,Claudio

PF2000 was really good in it's day. The vectoring was a little weak at times. I really miss the voice sets that PF2000 had. British, German, Spanish etc. It was cool flying over the pond from the US, and start hearing differen't accents as you got closer to Europe. Take Care,Scott

I hope they hold off. With the PMDG NG and other add-ons out, or coming out (e.g., PIC V2, MD-11, 747), I'm happy with FS9. I would still buy the next version if it came out as 2006, but FS9 is far from broken-in on my drive.

>I hope they hold off. With the PMDG NG and other add-ons>out, or coming out (e.g., PIC V2, MD-11, 747), I'm happy with>FS9. I would still buy the next version if it came out as>2006, but FS9 is far from broken-in on my drive.Then don't buy the next version. I mean, nobody is putting a gun to anyone's head, saying: YOU MUST BUY EVERY NEW INSTALLMENT OF FS. I held off of buying FS 2002, and happily flew FS2000 with all my great working add-ons. A month ago, I switched over to FS 2004 - I fired the sim up, ready to be blown away by the supposedly great improvements. Sorry, I ain't seeing it. Cockpit graphics are the same old same old, they ditched most of the interior views for fuzzy "virtual cabins;" the atc is buggy as hell, etc. etc. It'll be a long while before I buy another installation of FS.ricardo

You need to chill. I didn't say they shouldn't make a new FS in 2006. For me, I'd rather see a better upgrade that takes 3 years than another simple one. This internet hostility is starting to pi$$ me off. All I said was I'm happy with FS9 and I'm okay waiting until the next one, even if it's a year later then planned. You forget your risperidone?By the way, if you went from 2000 to 2004 and don't see a difference, then you need glasses.

Totally agree Orlaam, this internet hostility is un-called for. Some people are happier seeing the negative in everything. With PMDG, Level-D, VATSIM and some of the amazing freeware and payware sceneries out there, FS9 is leeps and bounds ahead of FS2K. Best RegardsBoone,[email protected]"Flying a plane is no different from riding a bicycle. It's just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes."

don't see where the problem is with the different versions,just because you buy the latest version doesn't mean you have to delete your previous version,or that your enjoyment of it changes just because the new version has new bells and whistles,,,i still like a plain cheese pizza now and then,just as much as the everything in the fridge pizza :)Gerald