I have been using FSXWX as my weather engine. So far it worked like a charm! The only thing that I don't like is that the sim freeze for a micro-second sometimes, when updates the weather, but I can live with it.

What improvements/features will I see if I get ASN? I'm mostly a GA/VFR guy

You can download the full installer for FSX:SE and try it for 7 days.

 

Once ASN is installed, you can request a trial key from the license registration form in the application itself or from this link.  Make sure to request a trial ONLY from the computer you will be running ASN on (trials cannot be moved between computers!)

 

Run the installer and select "request trial key" and it will be sent to you and you should be good to go.  ASN is on sale right now with a 25% discount.

 

http://www.hifisimtech.com/downloads/

You can download the full installer for FSX:SE and try it for 7 days.

 

Once ASN is installed, you can request a trial key from the license registration form in the application itself or from this link.  Make sure to request a trial ONLY from the computer you will be running ASN on (trials cannot be moved between computers!)

 

Run the installer and select "request trial key" and it will be sent to you and you should be good to go.  ASN is on sale right now with a 25% discount.

 

http://www.hifisimtech.com/downloads/

Oh Nice! I did not know about the trial!

Yes, thats why ask  

No problem my friend, enjoy the trial.

Oh Nice! I did not know about the trial!

Yes, thats why ask

Just make sure to read the documentation so you can optimize it so the performance is good. Don't go setting the cloud draw distances and cloud layers to max and then wonder why your FPS is bad. There are also a couple of settings that look good but can cause FPS decreases.

 

Nothing ruins a demo more than installing it, not setting up correctly for your system, getting bad performance, then walking away thinking it sucks. Read the documentation so that you get good visuals and good depiction without bad performance.

Just make sure to read the documentation so you can optimize it so the performance is good. Don't go setting the cloud draw distances and cloud layers to max and then wonder why your FPS is bad. There are also a couple of settings that look good but can cause FPS decreases.

 

Nothing ruins a demo more than installing it, not setting up correctly for your system, getting bad performance, then walking away thinking it sucks. Read the documentation so that you get good visuals and good depiction without bad performance.

 

Good to know... the "default" configuration is a killer in performance? 

No, default should run just fine unless you have a really old processor and graphics card.

I used to use FSXWX and, apart from the short freezes you mentioned as it updates, I was generally happy with it. I saw ASN in a sale and decided to buy it and it is definitely worth the money. I have never experienced any freezes with ASN as the weather updates and there doesn't appear to be any noticeable performance hit. More importantly for me, the same weather just looks better with ASN compared to FSXWX. You get a lot more options plus it comes with a useful weather gauge.