Hmmm,And why would you think that what he proposed is not the case?Whether or not Dell and MS are "colluding", of course they want you to buy more hardware, means you've gotta get another license for a new operating system, etc., etc.. An age old way of doing business. I don't think it's a conspiracy, I think it is smart business. Plus, that is what we all keep asking for. More features, faster, faster. It's what the consumer wants, too. Same reason they design in lifespan into products. First of all, it helps to limit how much it costs, because you set a goal to design to, and second, it guarantees you'll buy more, keeping them in business, providing jobs for you and and your friends and everybody else.This is a positive thing.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com/FC_StartJava.html] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)

"Where do the conspiracy theorists come up with this stuff? Do you have any factual information which would support such an assertion? Or, is this just another bash at Microsoft?"I used Dell as an example but it's well known since the dawn of Microsoft that they have a deal with hardware manufactures (get the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" or read up on the history of Microsoft). How do you think Microsoft has become so dominant over Apple. Apple in the past choose to stay proprietary with their hardware. Microsoft opted to get its OS on every IBM compatible machine on the market thereby solidifying their market share in this arena. It would be to Microsoft

"maybe not will all the sliders up"Ryan that's the whole point, I can run FS9 with all the sliders maxed out (well maybe not clouds and site distance but everything else is maxed out)... :-)I will say this Ryan, if people are reporting better performance with FSX over FS9 (especially with your 744) I will concede... :(

I only recently purchased XP so will stick with that for around another 2 years.I will get FSX however, but some of the concepts surrounding Vista i do not like. I have heard that if you do a hardware change, you must purchase a new licence ect.

Slightly off topic:Can someone please point me to where Microsoft/ACES has stated that FSX will be getting (or will need) a patch for Vista?I recall reading on some other site that FSX would take advantage of any code enhancements Vista could provide right out-of-the-box... ("Flight Simulator X is still on track for a holiday 2006 release and will be optimized for Windows Vista when Vista is released") - I think people take that quote to mean that work will be needed... I take the quote to mean that it will be ready from day one. (Not counting any bugfixes or surprises) Should it come to pass that there IS a planned patch needed for Vista, I'll gladly admit if I'm wrong, but I don't think that it will need any sort of patching (for Vista - who knows about problems!) Keeping my thoughts in mind, I'm not waiting. :) I'll jump in with both feet when it's released in order to play, explore, and tweak. I have never really minded reloading my PCs, so when Vista comes around, it'll be a from-scratch installation... and depending on 3rd party compatability, may even keep FS2004 in there too. -Greg

There have been references in a couple of places which I can't now recall, but the crux of it was stated by tdragger (Mike Gilbert) when he said: "FSX will ship using DX9 and will be followed up (hopefully shortly) with a release that adds DX10 support. That's all I can say for now." The complete thread is here: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...=1159&mode=fullDoug

All of you guys who are going to chuck your present 3.0 ghz systems and radeon 9800 cards in a few months, just send them over this way :-violinE

Where did you find out this?"I suspect (strongly) that FSX will run better than FS9 on the same computer. Given the various blogs posts telling how the scenery and aircraft models (3D) are changed to make better use of the hardware GPU pipelines..."Thanks,RH

I have no intention of buying new hardware or OS for the next 3 years, that would be insane considering the amount of money i have payed for this one.I will buy FSX on the day it is released, im sure it will run fine, if not then its not the end of the world for me, lots of other great games out there.

My 3.0 with the 9800pro is going to the kids. I want Vista for only one thing.....take (more and better) advantage of dual processing, DX10 when available for gaming and graphics and of course FSX with the patch when made available. I'm running a December build of Vista at work on a 2.2ghz gateway and am not blown away. Lets see when I get the newest build from MS. Aside from some fancy graphics for displaying files and folders, the real power of the OS lies in the search and indexing capabilities and the numerous features for IT folks that won't mean much for the majority of FS users. Security will be the other advantage (we hope) of the OS.

Thanks - clears it up nicely. :)

<>Great! ;)

And then you'll be stuck with the DX9 version, a really bad outcome.

Wow, so all those average Joes that FS is designed for will be left with a "really bad outcome"? I hope MS doesn't plan on selling too many copies of FSX then!Now I know you have used the DX9 version so you are writing from experience, right?Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development TeamActive Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter

See, this is exactly why I most likely will wait for the full Vista/FSX environment (and install my various add-ons only once). There seems to be some important new features that only DX10/Vista will bring to the sim.I should have made it clear above. I plan on upgrading to the latest and greatest hardware for FSX not just the OS. Usually a new version of FS equates to a new PC which is the route many take to get the most out of the new sim...