Steam and Standar Edition.

5 hours ago, St Mawgan said:

MS Store runs in the background and you need to be signed in to it but no, you won't see it in your Taskbar. 

Let's just call it MS Steam which is what it is really. 

Nope, absolutely does not run in the background.  

I forgot to answer the question about what edition. What I would suggest is take a look at the aircraft lists and see which of the extra aircraft in the higher versions are of interest. 

However, you should be aware that some of the extra aircraft aren’t actually in very good shape right now. You might check around the official forms to see.

One highlight of the top-tier version, though is the Miltech C-17.  It’s excellent with great support.

5 hours ago, pstrub said:

One thing to consider: You bought MSFS 2020 on Steam. I seem to remember they once said you need to stay on Steam with MSFS2024 to keep your store-bought and in-sim purchases, and this includes the Deluxe / Premium items. If you switch to MS Store, you need to buy the Premium Deluxe in order to keep the planes. 

 

Nope. Wrong. Untrue.

Read the pre-release MSFS2024 info from Microsoft and/or Asobo. You can buy either 2024 Store or Steam version and your 2020 aircraft will be available in the 2024 Store or Steam version. One caveat though .... they are 2020 aircraft, not updated to FS2024 standards.

Don't take my word for it, read it yourself from the devs.

1 hour ago, Twenty6 said:

they are 2020 aircraft, not updated to FS2024 standards.

They are updated, actually.

If you're using 2024 via GamePass, you already have the Store version installed, it's just missing the paid license. No real reason to switch to Steam unless you prefer using Steam. Just be sure to set your community folder to a custom location, which is recommended no matter where you purchase the sim from.

The only bargain prices are the Store edition. At CDKeys. That's what I did on the 2nd day after msfs2024 was released. You just type the key in box that Microsoft Store provides for all coupons on all Microsoft purchases. My 2020 was Steam. I did lose any of those Steam 2020 assets, they all carried over to 2024 CD Keys MSFS Store.

Or you can pay more and buy direct from MSFS. You won't get more if you do so, and you won't get anything different. Except there is about a 2 hour wait buying from CDKeys (because the seller has to send the key. CDKeys is just a broker).

 

https://www.cdkeys.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-windows-10-pc#q=msfs 2024

17 hours ago, St Mawgan said:

MS Store runs in the background

It may be running on your pc, not on mine, that's a fact.

I own the deluxe version of 2020 and 2024 on the Xbox store. I bought 2020 standard from steam a few days ago, it loads faster on steam for me, and you don't need the Xbox app or store. Because i connected to the same Xbox account through steam, all my deluxe purchases popped up, along with the premium version i owned from the store. I only did this, because i am staying on windows 10 LTSC after windows 10 pro loses support. I plan on doing the same with 2024 before windows 10 end of life, I am still waiting for all my pay ware to work with fs 2024 before i really use it again.

Edited June 8, 20251 yr by Culley4246

2 hours ago, CarlosF said:

It may be running on your pc, not on mine, that's a fact.

Of course it is. How do you think all your apps stay updated? 

Get it from MS Store and Standard edition.  I did a post a while back and everyone recommended - Standard edition.  It was the right decision as I too fly payware aircrafts.

3 hours ago, CarlosF said:

It may be running on your pc, not on mine, that's a fact.

I stripped the store out of my windows, along with a ton of other garbage. That's why windows 10 is it for me. Microsoft has simply become to intrusive. I realize they will still be collecting information in linux with msfs running, But enough is enough for me.

17 hours ago, Noel said:

Nope, absolutely does not run in the background.  

I suppose it depends what you mean by Running, it does run a few processes in the background like periodically checking for updates.

Not really anything to get worked up about as far as resources are concerned, neither is steam.

Choosing between versions based on this is rather silly given how small the processes are and how powerful todays PCs are, its a non-thing

 

One thing is certain, Steam is far more stable and user friendly than the MS Store mess

Edited June 8, 20251 yr by Rusty Spanner

5 hours ago, Rusty Spanner said:

I suppose it depends what you mean by Running, it does run a few processes in the background like periodically checking for updates.

Not really anything to get worked up about as far as resources are concerned, neither is steam.

Choosing between versions based on this is rather silly given how small the processes are and how powerful todays PCs are, its a non-thing

 

One thing is certain, Steam is far more stable and user friendly than the MS Store mess

The MS Store, does not run.  The executable, the big one, WinStoreApp.exe, is not triggered to run when you start MSFS and therefore does not run.  There is no 'worked up'.  It's a fact the MS Store thru which I initially installed 2020 from, and since have done 3 or 4 reinstalls including in Win 10 and Win 11, then on to 2024 now with an install and one reinstall, zero problems.  

I’m in the same situation and think I will be going with Steam but am unsure about which version.

Looking through the differences the thing that’s tempting me with Premium Deluxe is the additional airports, places like Cape Town, Frankfurt, Denver or San Francisco are places I’d like to fly into but am unlikely to buy specific add-on scenery for.
 

Would you say the 10 additional ‘high quality’ airports included with Premium Deluxe are worth it from a quality point of view? (They are airports I am interested in flying into).

 

Thanks