You Must Play Flight Simulator X on an Approved Monitor

[Joe]

So, my boys at Gamespot?s brief lowdown on some of Flight Simulator X?s new features. Check out what Kotaku had to say:

 

[Joe]

Original Comment by: Steve
http://www.steve-lacey.com
FlightSim X will not require Vista. It'll run fine on Windows XP.

 

[Joe]

Oh, excellent. Still, it's going to be "optimized" for Vista. Think it'll do anything particularly spectacular XP can't?

 

[Joe]

Original Comment by: Slartibartfast

I haven't done any actual research on it, but given MS's marketing history "optimized" tends to be a marketing ploy. It's like when software says "runs best under windows xp" or an OEM like Dell says "Dell recommends Microsoft Windows XP Professional." They just want you to pay out your butt for the latest MS OS. I agree with you on Vista's DRM bullshit. I apologize if that phrase offends anybody out there but let's be honest, there's no better way to describe it.

 

[Joe]

Original Comment by: Slartibartfast

On second thought:

There is a slight chance that "optimized" means something if the game is directx 10 compatible. I believe DX10 is under development and I know for certain that XP is not going to support DX10. DX10 looks to be a serious upgrade, but the thing is, no current videocard supports it. So for said "optimizations" to be true, the following would have to be true: the software can make use of DX10, DX10 is even out, and you have the latest and greatest videocard because everything else is not DX10 compatible. So to get any sort of theoretical optimization out of it, you would need to not only cough up the cash for Vista (~$200) but also for a new DX10 capable videocard (~$500).