Says it all for those(like me ) concerned about the need for hardware upgrades.Barry

Yes, I agree. Holding off on any upgrades until I take the demo for a spin. It should give us wary buyers some level of assurance.Randall

Demo for FSX? I really don't see the point, we all know it's FS. FS is not like a first person shooter or RTS, wonder how many get FS and lose interest because of the difficulty or lack of a specific goal like other "games"? Most demos I try lack full graphic functionality, so they are not a good benchmark into performance, more about gameplay. Obviously MS has looked into this quite a bit, but I just think it is pointless.Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/tfbeta.jpg

Well, given that FS is just as much a game as... say, Unreal Tournament, it's high time they offered a demo. I, for one, am glad.

I thought it was pretty obvious that the DEMO is targeted at the NON FS user, trying to draw them in.Just like the video trailers we've seen..MS know that the dedicated user will buy the next version.The Demo will however,if released before the actual product, give us REAL insight into what is coming.Steve

Yes, and since it is for the NON FS user I bet it is designed to show off the eye candy--maybe a good benchmarker at that for graphic performance. RandallP.S. I'm getting the final release regardless--just glad we'll have something to play with before then.

Uh, guys? I suspect that the two DVDs we will get in the box will run in - DEMO MODE - until the online or phone in registration is completed and the product activated...

No I think demo version will mean a trial version of the software you can download and try out. Similar to all the other game demo's you can download before buying. There was already a thread on this topic and from memory thats what it meant.

>Uh, guys? I suspect that the two DVDs we will get in the box>will run in - DEMO MODE - until the online or phone in>registration is completed and the product activated...Uh, guys! -- No!! "For the first time ever, they are offering a trial version to be available from their website fsinsider.com."Barry

I'm excited about the trial my self just so I can get a sneak peek at what is to come. But the main question at the moment is when will they release the demo?, I guess we'll have to wait and see but hopefully in the coming month or so.

Even for the seasoned simmer a demo version would be great. We can see just how good the sim works on existing hardware...in other words smooth or more stutters... pointless buying something if the hardware doesnt make it enjoyable to fly..

>>Uh, guys? I suspect that the two DVDs we will get in the>box>>will run in - DEMO MODE - until the online or phone in>>registration is completed and the product activated...>>Uh, guys! -- No!! >> "For the first time ever, they are offering a trial version>to be available from their website fsinsider.com."And how many people are going to download two, 4GB ISO images and burn DVDs just install a demo?We shall see, shall we not? ;)

>Says it all for those(like me ) concerned about the need for>hardware upgrades.>>BarryHang on I'm Barry from Brisbane. Stop being me. :-hah

>And how many people are going to download two, 4GB ISO images>and burn DVDs just install a demo?Is it going to be 2 DVDs for the demo? I didn't see that anywhere and there is no reason why they won't release a stripped down version.It's the mesh and textures that consume most of the space.If they released scenery for an area say the size of a US state the download will probably be less than a couple of GB.Remove all European/Asia/Africa/Oceania texture sets, fix the season to summer only and delete all the other remaining seasonal textures.I think a demo is a great idea. In many countries it is impossible to return software after purchase even if it's still sealed! If you buy something and it doesn't work on your PC you're screwed. A demo can remove that risk.Paul

They're just kidding, I think ;) The demo will definitely be limited to a set area with a couple of different sized airports and a couple of different types of aircraft (for example one unpowered, one GA and one commercial jet). This way the size can be kept down, probably under 500 megabytes for the installer.