That type of technology for the masses (who FS is marketted to, like it or not) is way far off. MS won't wait that long (5 or 10 years?) - there is a TON they could do to improve FS by writing a new graphics engine that is up to snuff with what the current cards can do. Also - they should release the thing on DVD-ROMs so that they can include better mesh and higher resolution terrain textures without resorting to 20+ CDs or something. I still don't understand why virtually no one is producing games on DVD yet (UT2004 is the only one I have) - if you have the computer to play this stuff, you surely have a DVD drive, they're like $40 for a 16x burner now...

Well I hope you are right on your second point, else we will be waiting for the concept I described.

The following is just a guess.There are some add on planes for FS9 announced, some of them in earlydevelopment status.As there are the PSS 757 and 777, the PMDG 744 and MD11, the LevelD 767 to name just a few.The PSS planes and the PMDG MD11 were announced just a few months ago.I assume, that these developers have some more infos provided by MS, infos saying the the next version is not due in the near future. Otherwise it would not make sence for these companies to develope add ons for FS2004, which probably won't be ready before early summer 2005, which would be too close to the usually expected publishing date for the next version.My assumption bases on the fact, that it is clearly in the interest of MS to provide add on developers with such information.An Indication for this practice, was a post of a payware add on scenery developer here in this forum approx. 1 or 2 weeks before MS released the FS9 patch.Between the lines of this post were some indications, that a patch will bereleased within the next days.Thus I guess payware developers know more, which is essential for proper development planning.Wolfgang

Wolfgang,I don't think you are correct. At least PMDG who is very frank with their customers do not claim any advanced knowledge of FS10. This has been stated on their forum a few times. I think people should stop building 'conspiracy' theories and lay to rest beliefs that some inside (and secret) information is being witheld from them.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

>>Wolfgang,>>I don't think you are correct. At least PMDG who is very frank>with their customers do not claim any advanced knowledge of>FS10. This has been stated on their forum a few times. I think>people should stop building 'conspiracy' theories and lay to>rest beliefs that some inside (and secret) information is>being witheld from them.>>>Michael J.>WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB>Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2Hi,I would assume that there is a beta program, of some sort just as there is for the MS Visual Studio product range, Ok visual studio is a different ball game, but if I were an addon developer I would be emailing MS or at least looking to MS to provide me with Info on the coming versions on FS as in reality my business would kind of depend on it.Im sure there is a lot more info floating around on certin forums that come with your MS beta or MS Developer status. Ms dosent tend to Hold out on people that are signed up for this kind of thing, They may however ask you not to discuss what you are told or what you read on these said forums/developer notes etc.To Be honest, If I were a developer, and had a developers inside on a new version of FS I would keep it to my self, Why... Well Imagine the world of pain PMDG/PSS would be in if they were to start talking on their forums.. The questions from the rest of use would fill the forum, let alone the Speculation. I think some times what we dont know wont hurt us. Im not saying that Thease Guys are holding out on us, but sometimes a little knowledge is dangerous.What would be rather silly *I think* is that if X developer decides ok If possible I will produce an upgrade to X addon, as I only released it for FS2004 2 weeks prior to the new version of FS Coming out, and then leaving it to the release of the new version of FS before seeing how the new version works, they *Should be* again if possible getting this Info ASAP from MS, Ofcourse this may not be possible, but like I said above, It maybe, and if it isnt then MS should do more the addon Developers as lets be honest here, FS would be rather dull without the great Addon developers.On another note, I hope that MS do realise just how much some of us have spent on addons, and take that into consideration, Yes I know we cant have it all, and I know for an advance in the SIm we must lose some things but in the end of the day, I dont expect to lose it all and I should not have to IMHO[b/]Jason

Well, if MS keeps to a typical timelime, if we had to wait to September to find out, that would most probably mean there will be no FS2006 until well into 2006 or probably none at all. They usually release some info about 6 months prior to the release concerning the next version, or it has been that way since FS2000. RH

>>On another note, I hope that MS do realise just how much some>of us have spent on addons, and take that into consideration,>Yes I know we cant have it all, and I know for an advance in>the SIm we must lose some things but in the end of the day, I>dont expect to lose it all and I should not have to>IMHO[b/]>>>JasonJason, I think that MS has done a great job of considering this in the past, considering what a huge constraint it must be on their development. With their new emphasis on working with the sim community (implied by their recent job posting), I'm not worried about it.At the same time I find myself wondering what kind of sim they could come up with if unfettered by the last n years of design decisions and contraints.Jon

ANYONE who may know ANYTHING at current is under an NDA which precludes them from even stating there is an NDA they're under.Therefore they can't say anything at all about a possible upcoming product. NO featurelists, NO status announcements, NO release dates, NO NOTHING.If PMDG say they know nothing they either know nothing or aren't allowed to tell anyone that they do know something (and everyone knows "no comment" effectively means "not allowed to tell but you're right". Spynovels did that much.Indeed there is no conspiracy. Microsoft isn't out to have everyone believe there won't be a new version, and they're also not out to have everyone believe there will be a new version.If and when Microsoft themselves announce something, THAT'S when we'll know one way or the other, not a moment sooner.Anyone who claims differently is either a complete idiot or is breaking a very strict contract with Microsoft which effectively makes him a very big idiot because Microsoft doesn't take such things likely.

Hey everybody,I've been waiting for this weekend since February simply because of this comment. Wonder if circumstances have changed? Guess we'll find out in the next 48 hours or so.Ben

FS95 was released well into 1996, and FS 98 about a year later.RH