…or, at least you’d think so from some of the (over)reaction around the hobby.

Yes, the inevitible has happened and Microsoft have announced that they are ending support for Flight Simulator X.

This is, whether you are a fan of Microsoft or not, definitely the end of an era. It does not, though, as some have suggested, mean that you will no longer be able to install FSX or activate it. What it means is that MS will no longer respond to support e-mails about it, which may cause issues for some that will require work-arounds, but for the vast majority of users there will be no change whatsoever at this time.

Questions have been raised about the continuation of the GameSpy capabilities and “real weather” downloads for the title, which do as yet remain unanswered, but you won’t suddenly be losing the ability to use your simulator when the clock strikes midnight and, just out of interest, how many readers of this have actually contacted MS support to successfully resolve an issue anyway? The only person your editor has found so far, in a very quick straw poll, is himself, as MS unlocked my ability to install Acceleration once, during testing for a review.

So, in the words of a famous British TV character, “Don’t Panic, Mister Mainwaring!”