>My best guess is that over the next couple of versions, FS>will move to a server-client model, the servers being provided>by MS, or any third party, providing terrain, scenery,>weather, effects, etc., on a central server(s), and logging in>with a (free) local client, and paying a subscription. >>This presumes the ubiquity of bigger broadband pipes to handle>the bandwidth.>>But just a best-guess . . .>>------->Justin>http://www.fsgenesis.net>High Quality Scenery for FS200xBill Gates said this a few years on TV: he saw the future of PC's being dumb terminals, and all software was run on servers.Johan[A HREF=http://jdserver.no-ip.com]Personal Server[/A]or..http://62.238.33.10

I like the ideas of those in the last few posts about M$ reverting back to the "Standard" and "Pro" titles. I would personally like to see a revamp of the FDE and enviornment modeling in pushing for X-Plane type capabilities to provide FAA certification in certain aspects. I think that would be truly the best thing M$ could ever do for the flight simulator family. It has long been created as a "game" but I'm sure over the past few years, M$ has seen a demand by users to push it toward the limit of reality of a whole new game. There are thousands of real pilots, including myself, that use FS to practice procedures in which we then transfer to the real airplane. With add-ons, payware and freeware, growing in complexity and reality I can only think that M$ is pushing to keep up with this trend to make FS a more capable interface. We have glorious programers creating some of the most life like fluid gauges ever seen, that shadow and mimic the actual object that I tend to think M$ knows they are looking bad in the eyes of the users. All the above have been my personal imputs and are not intended to spark anything.

As I said in another thread, "multi-version" means multi-platfrom for sure, maybe multiple versions for the PC and/or X-BOX.www.microsoft.com/xna"The XNA development platform will serve as the foundation for future game platforms from Microsoft, including Windows, Xbox and Windows Mobile-based devices."It's basically a bunch of cross-platform development tools that will wrap DirectX.I think we are kidding ourselves if we didn't believe MS would bring the best selling PC game of all time to the cash cow that is X-BOX. I have a feeling they will dumb it down in some aspects, although hopefully the PC version will not suffer. I'm sure this means the graphics will improve dramtically, however.

But FS being a cash cow on PC don