The end of an era of Flight Simulation
Over the years I have collected all the MS Flight Simulators. I have gradually watched the MS Flight Simulator grow more complex.
Sadly I thought FSX was the worst attempt of them all. It just about completely 'cut-off' third party aeroplane developers, making it very hard for people to contribute (which is the real secret of any flight simulation). Eventually Microsoft relaxed some third party development rules, then it was too late. People were then divided between MSFS 2004 (where third party aeroplane development had reached its height) and the later FSX - result dwindling sales and sadly ending in a lot of very good people losing their jobs.
I do blame the Microsoft Marketing people for a lot of the problems. Not really looking at the the success of MSFS 2004 and then building on a better compatible FSX.
As IL2 dedicated fans we all know the pros and cons of CFS2 and CFS3 - again Microsoft Marketing had a hand it making both these simulations gradually die.(Oleg has helped as well!)
Lets hope that Oleg is taking the demise of Microsoft Simulation in the market place very seriously, especially closely looking at why they failed. Microsoft have made a lot of mistakes - poor attention to detail, poor compatability between versions, upgrading graphics with no compatibility between versions, not getting their dedicated community more involved, cancelling production of their excellent Sidewinder sticks etc. etc.
I am sure the $16Bn profit posted by Microsoft last year is a a great consolation for the people that lost their jobs.
DFLion
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