The thought that MS are alienating their main audience in the hopes of snagging a few million casual gamers to drop a small chunk of change on a sub par arcade flight game doesn't really phase me. I did like the potential that the VRS Tacpack was heading with fsx, and I do intend to have a go some time soon. But I am truly excited about the upcoming DCS fighter. With it will come a truly realistic fighter experience, with the most detailed simulation of a fighter jet to date no doubt. The depth of the avionics will surely trump most other sims, maybe even a-10c, and with the upcoming EDGE terrain system which will bring new life to the world we fly in, the possible graphical migistry allowed by Dx11 effects, hopefully a new theatre of war, and with the expansions allowed to game dynamics through the addition of upgraded mission editor capabilities towards something resembling a dynamic campaign system, I will be like... "there are other sims? But why? We have everything we could ever want!"
So Microsoft might be able to squeeze a few extra bucks out of a few unsuspecting casual gamers, however they won't be fooled twice once they realize there is nothing really of worth in MS flight, and MS can say goodbye to those who truly love flight and the nuances that go along with it, and who see those nuances not as inconveniences which should be eradicated, but as the essence of what flight, and fight simming is about. I just wish MS realized this too, as they unfortunately a the main representative of all that is flight simming. But not for long. I expect there will be a mass exodus from Microsoft with simmers looking for a new home, and ED will provide them with that shelter which we all crave.