Gang,Please keep in mind that this whole story is and will continue to evolve.You've only seen a LITTLE TASTE. DO NOT rush to judgements yet as you do not know other things that may be a part of the new sim that you do not see yet but will impact the environment.I've already seen comments on the current set of screenies where things blew right by you (collectively). One of those things were the roads. Look a little closer at them.It's going to be a fun ride, but be careful what you say as it may come back to haunt you...LOL.Great job everyone. :-)

Animal`s traffic slider only 10% may be.:-)

Wow, I'm left thinking "why bother". Of course the diehard MS defenders will say "give them a chance!". I'm a fan of MS and can't be too critical since without them, we wouldn't have such a wonderful sim.I just think the overall release is nothing earth-shattering. The screens always look great. Throw in a default plane and turn the sliders to full and my sim looks that good, minus the birds and reflections. All that stuff is great, but we all know it'll take a much better computer than what we'll have access to at the time, or even future to really enjoy it. I still can't run FS9 to the max.I want to know if AI and ATC changes were heavily made. I want to know what kind of stuff was developed to cater to us hardcore simmers who care more about procedure than eye candy and simple low altitude VFR flying.ETA: I've looked at a few more screens and decided the seagulls don't look right. I won't be buying it. My main request was for realistic birds and they dropped the ball. Just kidding of course! :-lol The screens I've looked at do look better than what I looked at prior to posting, but as some have said alot of this has been accomplished with add on programs. Look at ASv6. Awesome clouds and sky textures. Overall though, I'm hopeful the environment will be better for us all. I'm just concerned about the impact on performance.It's obvious MS is set on improving the quality of the sim and making it better for all of us. I'm happy we have a new version, so don't think critical discussion is bad. I just want to know more about the stuff that effects IFR flyers.

LOL... you can't win eh ;)

>I fly in real life and never ever saw a single bird from the>cockpit. Yet, I see huge number of trees - ability to autogen>10 times number of trees (**or** provide equivalent visual>experience) would truly change the look of the landscape. I>wonder if they really improved anything with weather and>visibility issues.Are you serious? Where do you fly, I want to start flying there. Whether you fly airliners or cessna 172's, birds are such a huge threat to aircraft, that there are whole websites that document, predict and offer information for pilots on bird activity around airports. Most of this is military in nature, but if you haven't seen any birds on your approach and landing, or on takeoff, it's not because they're not there, believe me. Also, as an aside, birds will tend to dive when threatened. Remember that, don't try to outdive them, especially when you're on short final, slow and configured. It's beter to take on a bird than take on the ground.

>Bill, with my (new) glasses I don't see anything beyond what>BEV offers today as far as autogen is concerned. There may be>details that I am missing - but if I have to strain my eyes to>notice them - they won't definitely improve quality of my>out-of-cockpit experience. What would make a huge impact - 10>times number of trees. I thought it was high time to solve>this problem.There is a lot of detail. One of the things that really stood out though is that the autogen isn't just randomly scattered about helter-skelter. It is "intelligent" and is aligned with the roads. Also, look closely to see the manicured lawns, sidewalks, and other details Hint: lower right corner of fsx010... Note the DRIVEWAYS even! ;)

LOL Bill, we just posted over each other about the roads. I noticed they seemed to be actually connected.

Just so you all know I was looking around at Flightsim.com and found a few other FSX pictures there. Taylor

Man, I definitely want to start saving for a new computer also.

In shock at the fact i wont be able to run anything with my rig in about a year................................LOLThe shots look fantasic though..............

I have had lots of bird encounters in my real world flying-from a group of buzzards over Wyoming to the migrating geese and wide selection of birds we get in Michigan which is almost a constant.Also-lots of bug encounters on the windshield....http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

My machine is getting old and I don't have a DVD player for it. By the time FSX come out I have a feeling that there is going to be a dent in my wallet.

Yes, we know little more than we did last month. I do wonder why the guy showing the video said that the developers have a little over a year of development time left. That doesn't really jive with the release date estimate of Holiday 2006.CH

A couple of those shots look like much more detailed mesh...maybe 150m or (dare we hope) 76m worldwide, or equivalent?Lewis "Moose" GregoryRichmond, Virginia

I cant believe some cant see the difference. Maybe its time for some of you folks to get a new monitor, or glasses. YES!!!! there are cars on the roads. WE HAVE SHRUBS, DESERT SHRUBS. Sorry for the yelling, but excited about that. There are neighborhood streets with houses properly align with the street. The roads, water, everything is WAY better than FS9. Seriously, am I the only one that can see the changes?Scott