First, FSX will be released for X-Box as the first shipping platform!.......................OK, resume breathing. I belive it was either Hal or Z who offered a cash prize to whoever posted that on the forum tonight, and since I didn't win any raffle prizes....Seriously, we saw some screenshots of the differences in graphic fidelity between FS9 and FSX (very impressive) and then some rather amazing artist renditions showing what DirectX10 would bring to the mix (requiring an update to Vista, DirectX10 hardware, and a free update/patch to FSX).We also saw an FSX blooper reel showing highlights from the 20,000 bugs caught during testing - the testers actually put screenshots and videos into the bugs database, so we got to see a sheep bigger the a piper cub, and a Caravan on an aircraft carrier skidding across the rocking deck and falling over the edge (note to MS - that's not really a bug, carrier decks are slippery places, which is why aircraft are chained down when they are parked above deck. Please add a "carrier tie-down chain" feature in FSXI.)The news that we did get is that FSX has in fact been released to manufacturing, so the process of pressing the disks and filling the boxes and shipping them to stores either already is underway or will be underway soon.The FS team also made it clear that the future is to make FS the platform that works out of the box as a product, but is almost infinitely expandable (easily!) by third parties, thus making it possible for the hobby and market to grow. The next 25 years promise a very rapid slope of improvement, and I expect we'll see FS being used in ways never before considered.Tomorrow will be a half-day of "under the covers" looks at various parts of FSX, and I'll bring my laptop and report it as I learn it.Best wishes,Tim

Thanks Tim, I didn't get to go to the event tonight, but I will be there all day tomorrow.

Wow, already in manufacturing! What's going to happen with the Avsim convention attendees who were promised free copies of FSX?I guess it'll be shipped to them now.-Bryan

Thank you for the report Tim. Looking forward to the next one. Have fun at the conference.Dave Vega

>Thanks Tim, I didn't get to go to the event tonight, but I>will be there all day tomorrow.Come by and say hello, I'll probably be near an aisle somewhere.

Thanks for that news, good to hear it went gold. Now I have to save up for a new computer, again!I can imagine 20,000 bugs in the database, its a huge game to work on. But "artist renditions" and "real life" almost never turn into the same thing, the jury is still out on DX10

Bryan,We were told that Microsoft will ship our convention copies of the deluxe version of FSX to the AVSIM store, which will in turn ship the copies to our homes.We were warned to be patient as it's expected that copies of FSX will be on store shelves well before we receive our copies.Bruce

>The FS team also made it clear that the future is to make FS>the platform that works out of the box as a product, but is>almost infinitely expandable (easily!) by third parties, thus>making it possible for the hobby and market to grow. The next>25 years promise a very rapid slope of improvement, and I>expect we'll see FS being used in ways never before>considered.>Tomorrow will be a half-day of "under the covers" looks at>various parts of FSX, and I'll bring my laptop and report it>as I learn it.>Best wishes,>TimHi Tim,Thanks much for this excellent news! I wish that I could have been up there to join Ron and Bob, but work conflicted with this event. Enjoy tomorrow's discussions!Regards,Owen

Thanks for the report, Timothy!I hope that Blooper Reel will be on the DVD's or released online. It would have been fun to watch :-) I'm looking forward to your next report.RaymondNorway

I thought Steve Lacey said something on his blog about FSX being on XBOX when they announced FSX?

>Thanks for that news, good to hear it went gold. Now I have>to save up for a new computer, again!>>I can imagine 20,000 bugs in the database, its a huge game to>work on. >I think that's pretty likely, but not unexpected. heheh. Recently there was a thread about the DAnube River south of Budapest, that was missing. An then there have been other threads about mesh spikes and so on. I think there will be a lot of threads like that unfortunately. But I still feel FSX will be a work of art, and over time these things will be repaired. You're right, it's a gigantic world to work on.>But "artist renditions" and "real life" almost never turn into>the same thing, the jury is still out on DX10Yep, I am not quite 100% convinced that actual in-sim DX10 will look quite like the still shot I've seen. Maybe it will though, who knows. Bottom line is, things have a lot of potential I think!RhettAMD 3700+, eVGA 7800GT 256, ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, etc. etc.

I wonder if the huge sheep was actually animated?? I agree, that blooper reel WOULD be something to see. Maybe it's on the Deluxe DVD(s)?? RhettAMD 3700+, eVGA 7800GT 256, ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, etc. etc.

Alex...With days and months, not years to Vista release, I think you can rest assured the ACES team has hardware and software in place to test and bug fix all DX10 issues. In other words, the renditions are just to keep the lid on until all DX10 is final, and in production.Just a guess, but one that I would take a bet on.bt

DX10 is MS's big banker. FSX with DX10 will be their technology demionstrator, their window on the new world. It will be significant. There is no question of that.The question for us is, at what cost?Allcott

>Tomorrow will be a half-day of "under the covers" looks at>various parts of FSX, and I'll bring my laptop and report it>as I learn it.>>Best wishes,>TimSee my post in this forum under the topic "How important is videocard for FSX?"