There has got to be a better way...

[Will]

This post is just a rant. With all the talk about MSFS being paired with PSX in exciting ways, I decided to fire up MSFS for the first time in a while and see if I could start getting used to it. Kick the tires and light the fires, right?

So I happen to have about an hour free, which is rare these days, so I locate MSFS in my computer and double-click.

First: before it even runs, it tells me I need to install a mandatory update for my GPU. But then the GPU driver download site now sits behind enhanced security, with two-factor authentication. I set that up, download and install the new driver, and it works--yes, beauty!--but 10 minutes of my hour are chewed up.

No worries, right? I still have 50 minutes to look around inside MSFS.

But wait: mandatory update! 39GB for just the essential update package. I've been watching it download now for 25 minutes, and Microsoft tells me we're only 28% finished with the download.

So, let's just forget using it tonight.

There has to be a better way. Imagine the outrage if your car suddenly told you it was getting a "mandatory upgrade" while you were ready to drive home from work, and you needed to stand around in the parking lot for another few hours before you could turn it on to go home.

I know, it's an imperfect analogy. But it's so aggravating to sit down to use a computer or a piece of software only to be told that you have no choice but wait for a sizeable chunk of time because someone else thought they know better than you do, what the best use of your time is.

There's got to be a better way...

(And there is... thank you, Hardy, for making PSX such a friendly package.)

[funkyhut]

Hi Will,
I'm lucky because I'm retired and have time. But dealing with the annoying way Microsoft (and many others) drive these mandatory updates sure begs a better way.
It was because of your layout tutorial that I shifted my preference with PSX to using it as Hardy presented it, a complete desktop simulation with everything you need.
I recently enrolled in a 10 lesson program using PSX and that used PSX as a Flight Training Device (FTD) where outside views are not required. That cemented my choice of the way to use PSX.
That said, I still dabble and try to find an external view process for take off, landing and hand flying. There are so many great contributors here with setup ideas, trying to create the Holy Grail. And now, with Gary's latest update, I'm getting the feeling that it's there for someone like me running everything on a single PC.
I fully understand your rant and cannot tell you that it's worth the effort for the results now at our fingertips. But I'd encourage you to hang in there, work through the updates and then fire up everything with Gary's WASM, which for me worked out of the box with no config or settings to change. A small MSFS window top left of your layout as a starter?
I have a feeling that I'll use the MSFS setup for take off, landings and hand flying, with a switch of layouts to your tried and tested layout at all other times. That flexibility is just one of the benefits of Hardy's incredible art.

[Will]

I'm currently using three big monitors, each I think 32", with PSX in the center, Navigraph and Aeromap on the left, and the PSX instructor screen on the right (also with a web browser there as well). I don't use my old layouts anymore because they were for the days when I had something like a 22" screen. Ah, nostalgia!

I'm thinking I might keep PSX on the center monitor and put MSFS on the right, which wouldn't exactly be the usual arrangement. It seems like most people are using MSFS as if it were the windshield in the aircraft. I may use it as just an enhancement, to look at for taxying and when there isn't anything to see in PSX. We shall see. Once it finishes updating, that is!

[B747-400]

Will,

I absolutely second your opinion!

Most of us are using lot of sceneries, NavData etc.! You need to do lot oft maintenance, to keep your system firmly up to date, and ready to use.

So, running a fullsize simulator today is like operating a real aircraft: two hrs flight, one hr maintenance ... perhaps it makes simming more realistic     (just irony     )

That's exactly why I hate auto updates! I want to decide and schedule slots for maintenance! I and noone else ...

Regards
Hans

[United744]

The only reason MSFS updates are mandatory is due to the scenery streaming side.

As for the rest of it...pure BS.

Forced driver updates? F*k off! I need my system for work. I promptly delete anything that mandates driver updates.

XP12 did the same thing in the beginning. It nearly met the same fate!

[Takayoshi Sasano]

I did that rant several times by now - I couldn't agree more. Working in IT more than 20 years now forced updates are something I won't accept.
While I'm aware of the fact MSFS is providing the most beautiful scenery display XP12 would be my choice for an expensive home cockpit project.
Imagine spending a substantial amount of money on a beautiful flightdeck, you invite friends for a few days of flightsimulationinsanity - and there comes M$ update policy. Add some server overload or things that might have been broken with that update and your rig just lost external view.
In this case even XP11 is a better choice...

Cheers

Yoshi

[Hammerstan]

I think Asobo in their FlightSim expo keynote suggested that MSFS 2024 will be more in the cloud, less on the desktop for exactly the reason to stop the fat downloads.

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

"Hurray"

30 years ago I said that the goal of the internet is to become Pay TV.
My opinion has not changed.

[Bluestar]

I'm just not seeing the problem with the update issues.  My updates are updating Windows on the second Tuesday and I update my nVidia driver and Java at the same time.  I know when the MSFS update is coming ahead of time so I can plan for that.  P3d, Active Sky and FMC Navdaa updates are not mandatory updates so I can do those at my leisure.  If there is a Vatsim update, it shows on startup and lasts last than 10 seconds. 

For the 200 hours a month I fly on Vatsim I am down less than an hour for purely flight sim related updates.  That's pretty good. 😊

Computers have come a long way since I was programing Assembly at MIT with punch cards in 1965. 🤣

[Matt Sheil]

I run a program called "Windows Update Blocker"
I can then control when I do updates for my sim computers, not sure yet if it blocks MSFS2020 updates
just search Google, very simple program and it works, been using on my sim last 5years
Cheers,
Matt