As some have already stated, this is AVSIM so a war is about to break out again over 2020 vs 2024. Having said that, here is my advice. Spend the $1 and give 24 a shot. The career is not bad at all. You can mess around in there for many hours. We’ve got another update coming, so fingers crossed they fix a lot of bugs. 2020 is very stable, and with add-ons it lacks almost nothing. But 24 is the future. I have both installed, but use 24 more at the moment due to its career mode. 

Good luck. 

On 1/18/2025 at 3:05 AM, abrams_tank said:

Weird remark, since MSFS 2024 has a better flight model, better ground  physics, and better water physics than MSFS 2020.

Wow, you didnt say "The Best" ...  Bravo!😁

1 hour ago, Rusty Spanner said:

Wow, you didnt say "The Best" ...  Bravo!😁

I recently said "the best" in another thread 🤣:

 

Edited March 16, 20251 yr by abrams_tank

Go direct to the MSFS 2024, thats the future until 2028 !

Peter

On 1/16/2025 at 8:42 PM, salasnet said:

 

Edited March 17, 20251 yr by salasnet
Did not mean to reply.

On 1/16/2025 at 8:54 PM, james37611 said:

So now I'm thinking as MSFS2020 is still on Steam, Should I just re-download that instead? I'd like to get back into getting the A32x's and 737's and flying for Virtual Airways on VATSIM again, I can't see 2020 support for those or associated tools being stopped for a long time?

Your 2020 is already paid for, and you want to fly 737s. If you want to do that now,  and you want either PMDG or iFly, you'll do better reinstalling 2020.

On 1/16/2025 at 9:03 PM, JonathanC said:

If you want to try 2024 without buying it, remember that there’s a $1 /month game pass trial. You can install both and compare and contrast for yourself. 

This is also a good suugestion. That way you can decide by yourself.

Honestly? I have both and like both for what they are. All of my stuff is still on 2020 and works. Most of the my stuff for 2020 works on 2024 (minus a few planes). Most of my scenery seems to be working. Some need official downloads (like orbx, contrails have 2024 version for a good reason like EGLC V2).

2020 has all the stuff, all the planes. Good performance still minus a few CTD's lately. Likely due to WU or something.

2024 has better performance and better "looks" by far. Using autofps with this as well and it helps a bit. Only issue is some planes have tiny bugs, some don't work at all or are in the process of working (pmdg ahem looking at you! hurry up!).

Most apps seem to work: FS2crew RAAS, ATC programs, some traffic liveries as well, TDS/PMS 750 apps work, navigraph obviously.

Seriously, what a time to be a flight sim enthusiast right now!

Ignore the petty banter. People on Avsim will either hate or love something, then they will change their minds in a week. Its silly.

On 1/16/2025 at 10:16 PM, prolixindec said:

Here are some points to consider. 

2024 is the future, so you'll be using it someday anyway.

But... 2024 is still in the "early adopter" stage, with issues still being addressed. Whether these issues will affect you, depends on how you plan to spend your time simming. If you love PMDG and the new career mode, you'll be very disappointed. On the other hand, if you love free flight and Airbuses, you could be quite happy.

Another thing to think about is your general mindset towards being part of a platform that's in development. Some people love being along for the ride, watching things evolve, and getting to the future quickly. Other people find that process massively irritating and are looking for something stable and predictable.

I don't have 2024 yet, but I'm upgrading my system, and when the new PC gets built (I'm hoping for early February), my plan is to install 2024 and forget about everything 2020. But then I'm one of those types that doesn't mind watching the growing pains. From everything I've read, 2024 is stable enough for what I want to use it for.

 

 

This is good advice. The line I boldfaced above is a point that is often overlooked in all the freewheeling back-and-forth over MSFS2020, MSFS2024, FSX, and all their predecessors. It is inappropriate, and pointless, to compare these sims -- which are issued as works in progress and far from perfect -- with conventional software products, or even consumer items such as cars. E.g., "If my auto dealer sold cars in this condition he would be out of business!" Of course he would. But probably not, if he were to sell driving simulator software instead -- the proper comparison.

Obviously defects and issues in any flight sim -- especially when it's new -- need to be discussed and hashed out. That's part of the process, and inevitably some of the rhetoric will be over the top. I have been around long enough to see this process repeated with every single issue of a new MS flightsim product going back at least 25 years if not more. Anybody who gets into this hobby should expect the same with future releases.

Edited March 19, 20251 yr by cobalt

On 1/17/2025 at 4:18 AM, Reset XPDR said:

2024 is very pretty and great for GA joy flights

I use it also for IFR, in pretty and not so pretty weather. thanks to the best GPS and avionics of any home entertainment simulator.

On 1/16/2025 at 11:54 PM, james37611 said:

and then suddenly everyone's on MSFS2024

It does not matter what everyone else is on! If you're happy with what YOU are on, who cares?

Seems a no brainer to get what you already paid for installed again. THEN try a cheap trial with the new sim which will probably take some work to get it the way you want it. It's the only way you'll know for sure which you prefer. If you go straight to 2024 you might think you miss 2020 when you have issues (rose tinted spectacles etc) but having it actually there to compare you might think it wasn't so great after all.

Now with maybe 34 flights in 2024 I would still recommend someone to start with 2020 as it's so complete, so stable, so compatible and 2024 while it's fairly stable here still presents oddities that sometimes ruin a flight w/ no good explanation beyond it's got unaddressed bugs and likely will for a while.   For me and many others this is troublesome because I also use BATC, Self Loading Cargo and APL so there is serious pre-flight setup time involved.  Last night decided to do CYYZ > KBOS in one of the two default planes I'm using, the Longitude.    No could import the flight set up in Simbrief into the avionics it would simply hang and never complete, and normally that proceeds w/o issues.  Default KBOS in 2024 as I did not try to stream in from 2020 thru my Library in 2024.  So just to test if something had changed w/ SB or with Longitude I tried the same routine w/ the 787X and same deal, would not import.  So what you get w/ 2020 is serious stability and compatibility and less of that in 2024.  If these two sims were $1000 apiece, sure go with 2024 and cope with its growing pains if you're new to the activity.   But 2020 is still a fabulous piece of work and will continue to be so going forward.   And in the end, they ultimately are very similar, let's face it.  And I fully appreciate the cited differences.  I'm about 50:50 now in each sim.

Next, we went over to KBJC near my home to test the loading of the OFP into the Longitude's avionics for a KBJC > KSHR, and no problem.  But the scenery looked in some ways less real than those views in 2020.  So I set up another same view in 2020 and indeed, I thought the 2020 looked more realistic in terms of coloration, trees, and even clouds and weather at that time.  The 2024 view is chuck full of deciduous trees full of green leaves and that is not happening here at all and won't for a while!