LOLYes and the OS service packs are available FREE on CD for the same reason.

Without the Internet how are they even going to know that there even is an SP1? The Pony Express isn't going to tell them, are they?Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://www.fseconomy.com/

I understand your concern, and I would agree that SP1 should be made available on CD (the shipping & handling charge should cover their costs anyway).But, I disagree that acknowledging the presence of bugs is the same as admitting to a defective product. With sofware as complicated as it is these days, I challenge you to find one piece of sofware out there that does not have a bug attributed to it. Does that mean all software today is "defective"?I think the line between an acceptable and defective product would be very hard to draw in most cases. I think its very comparable to a movie in many ways: You may be very disappointed in a movie and most may agree it had major flaws, but that doesn't mean the studio is required to re-edit or re-shoot the movie and re-release the "corrected" version to the theaters where the original viewers saw it. Most likely, the best you could do would be to complain to the theater and get your money back similar to how M$ offered your money back on FSX.Basically, I agree M$ should offer the SP on CD and I think there's decent financial motivations for them to do so (ie, not #### off their customer base any more than they already have). I just don't agree that they are obligated to do so.

>Hi all, without going into what SP1 will or won't do I have>one burning question which I hope can be answered without>breaking the NDA. And it is: How big a download is it?>cheers>ChrisI actually don't care I hope it will solve the performance issues that's all...Even 2 gb downloads isn't strange anymore lolHave fun guys and believe me band with will be totally free in the near future lolAndr

Regarding CD distribution. Wouldn't magazines like to carry SP1 on their included Disks? Many other patches are distributed that way, I even received my XP SP1 through that method and still have the disk just in case.Sure one would have to wait another month after release and pay for the magazine but then you get something to read whilst SP1 is applied. This method would allow even those without Internet access to obtain the patch ans learn all about it.

Sounds good to me, because I have no means of downloading a patch of that size. Of course I understand that the patch has to be large enough to do the job intended, but I would certainly welcome some sort of inclusion on a magazine CD.

>I don't understand why there should be any question as to>whether the "FIXES" (note that ACES representatives are>themselves admitting these are FIXES to a defective product),>are provided to customers in the same format as the original>product. To comment that 200mb should be ok for the majority>is simply not good enough.>>Although many or possibly most would have no problem with a>200mb download, some will. Some may use FS entirely Off-line.>>It seems to me that ACES should be considering all current>customers when correcting a defective product rather than what>they have assessed as a cost effective majority.The fact is, as long as developers are supporting their product, every game released gets a patch. That does not mean the product is defective. I cannot think of a singe major release that has not had a patch published. I will also tell you I have never seen a game patch delivered by any other means than download.

M$ servers have great d/l speeds if you have a fast connection. I consistenly max out my Comcast connection at home, and have seen rates higher than 800 K/s at work (6.4 Mbs *actual* throughput).

Its a tough world we live in, we are provided with a patch (and the above poster is correct, every major title I have owned has had a patch/patches) and people will still complain about it in some way.I hate to be blunt, but if you are sitting around with absolutely no way to download a 200+ meg file (home or work), you probably don't know the game even needs to be patched, much less will worry about how you are going to obtain it in the mail.It could be 5 gigs, and I could be on dial-up - I would just open my DL manager, and let it tick away.....no worries, would bring me memories of the good old days - my 14.4 connection, download accelerator running - downloading HUGE 5 meg demos from happypuppy.com - - haha.Danon O.

The 9.1 patch for FS9 was 27.9 Mb zipped. No big problem for DIAL UP if you have a couple of hours to spare. SP2 for XP, WAS offered on a CD if one wanted it that way. I had/have.. no idea how BIG the file was so I ordered the CD online from the MS website. It arrived at my mailbox in four days.. TOTALLY FREE.I still have DIAL UP because Verizon DSL, my only option, is NOT AVAILABLE on "my side of the street". I am not making this up. For me, downloading 200Mb is not a viable option. The last time I saw stats on WHO had DSL etc, was on this website a couple of years ago and I think that at that time about 18% of flight simmers had DIAL UP. One can only hope: SPOFF

Downloading the file on your dialup connection IS an option, and it is your ONLY option so far. At least you have internet access. Download a download manager so you don't lose it all if you get a disconnect, and let it tick away at 4-6k a second. I downloaded 200+ meg files on my 56k connection. Maybe it won't come as fast as you want, but it will still get there. Just grab a cold beer or something, do some yard work, wash the car - when you go back inside at the end of the day....it's done.Danon --