I believe that there are two camps that exist when a new flightsim is released. In the one camp there are those that eagerly await the release, and will switch to it right away and never look back. They mostly fly in 3D cockpits. They are able to hear a brand new song on the radio, and like it instantly.In the other camp are those that are never as enthusiastic, and are always a little skeptical about the new release, and only very gradually change from their current version to the new release. They were slow to see the benefits of moving from FS2002 to FS9, and they will be slow to move to FSX. They most fly in 2D cockpits. After listening to the radio for several months, they will grow to like a song. OK OK, it was just a theory .....withdrawn.

It will be interesting to assess, in the fullness of time, whether or not the difference between FS8 and FS9 are greater or less than the difference between FS9 and FSX. One feature that stands out in FSX is the inclusion of what is potentially a very powerful weapon. Simconnect may allow a lot of simmers to acquire the features they want through better add-ons. For this reason alone I think that in the long haul FSX will be considered a more compelling upgrade than FS9 was. There are still a few FS8 users out there and good luck to them. No doubt in two years there will still be a few FS9 users and good luck to them too. It is worth noting that the power of simconnect will be available whether FSX is with DX9 or DX10. Yes, I will acquire FSX as soon as I can (bird in the hand etc) but I am not so sure about Vista/DX10 but I can take my time over that decision whilst I am using and enjoying FSX. Slider woes, I've heard it all before and I applaud MS for developing a product that users can grow into. As the developers have been involved comparatively early in the product cycle it shouldn't be to long before upgrades to FSX are available. Let us all celebrate the imminent birth of FSX for better or worse. Like it or not it will be the only way forward.

My issue is, I have Most of the CPFlight hardwaare,and a very big dollar Precision Flight Controls Cirrus 2 setup, If these items are not upgraded for FSX, I will most likely sell out and leave this hobby.

>My issue is, I have Most of the CPFlight hardwaare,and a very>big dollar Precision Flight Controls Cirrus 2 setup, If these>items are not upgraded for FSX, I will most likely sell out>and leave this hobby.I would like to see a picture of that setup!http://www.lemosnet.com/misc/gpilotsig.jpg

I'm not especially surprised that there are a lot of people who aren't really looking forward to FSX just yet. Many in the "hardcore" camp have finally set up computer systems that run FS9 at an acceptable clip, have all the real-world airports and cities that they want, and have great looking (and flying) aircraft to see the high-resolution scenery with. Sounds great, huh? People are looking at FSX as starting over, not moving forward. A lot of FS tweakers can very well remember all the hard work they put into FS9...researching and adding obscure airlines, finding the best new hardware, optimizing software, troubleshooting add-on conflicts...and it's hard to face the idea of having to go through all of that again. It's especially hard to face if you have a stable copy of FS9 sitting right there...no more work to be done to it, running fine and running with all the add-ons you accumulated through the years. We don't want to start over.I'm not too worried about that, though...right now it does seem like it's starting over. The sliders have to go to the left, there aren't a lot of great payware add-ons available, and the demo and the beta have shown (perhaps not justifiably) that there is a lot to learn about tweaking FSX for maximum performance. But we are moving forward...it won't be very long before add-ons will be released that will bowl the hardcore community over, and they'll be for FSX. The early adopters will start to develop methods for getting the most out of FSX with less computer. And instead of screenshots, the movies will start to roll in, courtesy of the FSX camera system. Imagine an ad for a new payware commercial aircraft that is a camera view from beside the runway as the plane lands...following the aircraft as gear touch, spoilers deploy, reversers extend...and hearing the engines in fantastic 5.1 sound. That ad would sell more copies of FSX to this community than anything Microsoft has released to date. There's a lot under the hood of FSX that may not be immediately apparent, but it will become apparent in the months to come.To list all the new features in FSX, I'd have to quote P-12C's blog:"New Sim Connect API so third parties can more easily access variables in the sim (i.e. it should be easier for them to build complex aircraft and do it more quickly) Completely reworked 2D and VC cockpits for most aircraft Completely reworked aircraft exteriors Improved VC lighting Many new and/or improved gauges G1000 and the use of vector graphics for some elements Air Traffic Control Tower and associated gauges for use in MP Flight model tuning for some aircraft based on beta tester feedback (such as thrust/drag tuning and bug fixing) Retractable skis Individually retractable tip-floats Automatic pressurization system New failure models including; Fuel leak, oil leak, oil system failure, fuel pump failure and others APU system Engine and APU fire failure modes Fire suppression Fixed helicopter autorotations and other tuning/bugs Improved water surface dynamics Negative flaps Flaperons Drooping ailerons (droop when flaps are extended) Wing flex Water ballast Droppable objects AI tow plane Tow plane rope/interconnected aircraft Landable platforms that can move Vehicles and animals that can move around following waypoints Completely reworked infrastructure for managing objects in the world"This isn't just FS9 all over again, folks...there's a lot more here. And it may take some time, but I am absolutely sure that what we will be able to do with this software is going to go leaps and bounds above what we've ever been able to do before.-Ivan

The problem is that the hard core group either have many of these features in FS9 via addons or have little interest in other features like animals moving through the landscape, droppable objects, missions etc., plus the features they did want haven't been implemented. For this group the wow factor just isn't there - yet.Bruceb

All its going to take is LevelD,PMDG,Active Sky ect to come out with their FSX versions.The words, compatable with FS9 but not all advanced features will be activated, will have people leaving FS9 behind and never lookiing back.A while ago I had a HD crash and lost everything.I ran plain jane FS9 for a month and realized that I really did not need 3/4 of all the addons I had loaded.Give me a few nice planes and Im happy.

The trouble is that it seems it will be some months before there will LDS or PMDG addons for FSX which is the main reason I wont be upgrading any time soon. Bruceb

>I'm pretty sure they said not completely fixed, Chris. In>that you will still be able to "out-run" your textures if you>go fast enough (i.e. slewing, probably). True, but there is a specific fix that will give the texture update task more horse-power. Providing the textures stay sharp during normal flight I'll be very happy. Best regards, Chris

Totally agree.Bear in mind that hardware has a long way to go until all FSX sliders can be maxed out.And to have all those great add-ons either newly developped or ported to FSX will certainly take it's time as well.So, I see the arrival of FSX as an important event, but I'm not one who need to buy it the day it hits the shelves.Switching the platform is a major event and at least for me means I need new hardware too. So, to be happy with FSX I personally wait for good scenery and the PMDG A320 to be available before I make the switch ;-)P.S.: I'm a little disappointed that FSX is beefed up on the eye candy side (which is very nice, I agree) but still seems to lack other important "under the hood" improvements e.g. X-Plane already demonstrates (sloping runways, smooth RXP-like gauges, hires mesh/textures,... ).Anyway, thank you MS for continued development of FS, hope this is not the end...Andrea

Great post, Ivan. I think you hit the nail on the head from my perspective.

>>>I'm pretty sure they said not completely fixed, Chris. In>>that you will still be able to "out-run" your textures if>you>>go fast enough (i.e. slewing, probably).>> True, but there is a specific fix that will give the texture>update task more horse-power. Providing the textures stay>sharp during normal flight I'll be very happy.>> Best regards,> ChrisThat "specific fix" was egg-xactly what I was alluding to. I think that we won't be disappointed, (I hope!) in that in normal flight we won't have to worry about it anymore. That would be nice.RhettAMD 3700+, eVGA 7800GT 256, ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, etc. etc.

Hey Jim,I just have to "rib" you a bit here and ask you a couple of questions.Is there anything that would make you think that the developers of your hardware and/or software want to just pack it in and give up because the next version of FS has even more and better development features and variables? ROFL. Surely they aren't going to go out of business just because MS has also released a feature called SimmConnect that's actually going to make it easier for them to make their stuff work altogether with less labor on their end, are they?Any reason to think that the development community has just given up altogether despite numerous posts from the ACES team that they have actually gone public now with formal developer cooperation?Anyways, just had to get that out and use you as an example.....you know we love ya :-) Don't sell that stuff just yet, ok?

I've been using the FSX Beta for approx. 3 weeks now which equates to about 30-40 hours. I can assure you that FSX at it's lowest settings is much better that FS9 at it's highest possible settings. How can I say that? Easy. I'm also running FS9 with every conceivable add-on that there is. Active Sky, RC4, FSnavigator as well as many payware aircraft and terrain mesh. So go ahead and bring on the screenshots no name and prove your point. Craig

Boo on me if this has already been mentioned but out of curiosity, all these great screenshots we have seen for FSX, are they DX9 or DX10 shots? I know DX10 isnt out yet but who knows what MS is running behind their scenes.http://www.lemosnet.com/misc/gpilotsig.jpg