Hi everyone!I just spent the last two hours looking at all the posts regarding the future of FS9, and I have to say the the outcome is encouraging :-) I also use FS9 and if some of you posting here considdered your pc as below par, mine is even worse: a P4 3 GHz wit 1GB RAM and a 256 MB Geforce 6200 8X AGP. Yet I can run it with all the sliders flatout and using quality add-ons like PMDG's 747 and 737 software. I also run a very large volume of AI traffic packages and always use real world weather and I also fly online with VATSIM. I never get less than 20 fps even at KORD (which is a real frame rate killer!) and all the other big airports. My average fps is around 38 to 40 fps with these settings. Now, I have also spent very large amounts of my hard-earned cash on these add-ons and other sceneries and would like to take this opportunity to address a few issues that I have picked up on this thread.Firstly, I do own FSX. I bought it when it first made the shelves here at our shops in South Africa. I looked at the system specs at the back of the box and thought wow, this should work great. At this point in time I was using only 512 MB RAM and a GeForce 5700 LE with 128 MB RAM. Needless to say, with this system and the fact that I didn't have any of the SP's then, made for one of the most disappointing experiences of my life :-(I tried everything to get FSX working properly but to no avail. Then later I doubled my RAM and got my 256 MB 6200. It was running much better but still not really an option. Then when I finally installed the SP's a few weeks ago, my performance has shot up and I get really good frame rates with high detail settings :-)However, FS9 is still my main base of operations. I have collected many sceneries over the years and that, tied together with high quality add-on planes, makes for a very real experience. However, I have to confess that I'm not really a very visually driven person - realism in the FDE department is what really matters to me.Tied with this of course, is the fact that when I fly into bad weahter and a busy airport, that the flight must be smooth - I don't want to feel like I'm watching a slide show on Power Point or something like that :-) FSX cannot give me this, only FS9 can.I also own light aircraft, very good payware products, but I use them in FSX only for VFR at low altitudes when I don't have the time to do overseas (or any other flight for matter) and FSX is a very dormant program on my machine :-) I like it, and it has potential, but in my opinion, just like Vista, the leap was just to great. Indeed, who care what a house looks like from FL360; I have been at that altitude several times before, you cannot read billboards and see inside houses from that high up. Besides, you should be more concerned with your AC's systems and performance, unless you are a passenger! LOL!If you are a visually driven person though, try taking a look at some of the new scenery that are becomming available for FSX and FS9, particularly the FS9 counterparts. One that stands out in my mind is the FlyTampa Kai Tak, which not only faithfully reproduces the airport as such, but in fact reproduces the whole city of Hong Kong around the airport in stunnig detail. Well done to the guys at Fly Tampa for a breathtaking production! Great stuff!In this scenery, you can even see the cars driving on the roads (something up untill this point in time only reserved for FSX owners) - they even used completely custom textures for the runways and taxiways. Land there and taxi around a bit - you'll feel like you're inside FSX, but without the considerable drain on your system resources.Looking at the custom textures and different type of autogen scenery, does anyone see a patern developing here :( . Instead of developers now moving away from FS9 completely, they are finding ways to upgrade it to unheard of extremes! I think we're in for some amazing add-ons just yet!As for reduction in price, I'd like to give you guys some idea of what the price impact is here in SA. As you know, we are traiding in the ZAR. When FS9 first appeared, it cost R 499,00. You can now get it for R109,00. The price has decreased quite substantially because of FSX comming on to the scene. It is however noteworhty that it is still possible to get FS 2002 here for R 90,00.Now let's take a look at some of PMDG's product's. When the FS9 747-400 became available here the retail price in our shops were R 675,00 without postage of R 45,00 at the time, so when the product ends up on your doorstep, it would have cost you R 720,00. The FS9 version is now R 890,00 (if memory serves) and postage has now increased to R 55,00 so it would now cost me R 945,00, in other words about nine times as much as the actual flight environment. If you want the FSX version that is R 960,00 + R 55,00! No matter how you look at it, that much makes a dent in your pocket (or bank account!)Now, I love PMDG's products, because in opinion they are the most realistic add-ons available. I'd like to thank them for the amazing work that they have done and will continue to do. You guys make us realize our dreams that never came into being :( The price impact is hectic, yes, but herein lies the crux of the matter for me - I'm a serious simmer and love spending hours of time just flipping through manuals and studying the technical information; I want to be as close to a certified pilot on the type when I'm done as is possible. I have almost 4 000 hours flight experience on the 747-400, for me the ultimate airliner of all time, and I'm approaching 70 hours on the 737 NG (only bought that end of last year :( ). If you are a real world 747-400 captain, you won't be flying anything else but that for your airline (correct me if I'm wrong). When buying a 747-400 from PMDG, you are obviously a serious simmer right? In my opinion, only buy what you are really going to fly, or it does sort of become a waste of money.I do agree that in the economic times we are in we have to be careful to overspend; use our money wisely. I'm also more than willing to pay top dollar for great products, but yes I do agree that it would be great to see the prices come down a little to make things more bearable for everyone concerned.I would also like to appeal to PMDG not to just cut FS9 from the production line - a massive amount of people still use it. Enjoy you flying everyone!Werner747
