yes and yes.

compared to FS2002, I have heard some say that FS2004 was faster. I
personally didn't experience this, but I started with the full
graphics to "see what my setup could handle" but I was able to make
adjustments and I'm usually in the 30fps locked rate. I have a 2.8 P4
with 1GB ram but only a GF4 card - one of those MX ones. I'm wanting
to get a GeForce FX 5600 ultra or an ATI Radeon card but that won't be
happening for a while yet.

You can select open an IFR flight plan from the ATC menu and then
it'll take you to the flight planner (the same one you use before
starting a flight). when you are done, it will ask you if you want to
move your airplane to the departure airport? just say NO and your GPS,
etc is all set. Just get your clearence from ATC and you're all set.
I imagine you could also just go to the flight planner while in VFR
flight and setup a VFR flight plan and again say NO when asked to be
moved to the departure airport. It should put you back where you left
off, but your GPS should have all that stuff programmed in for you.

On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 07:20:21 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

George Lewis writes:

You can change to IFR inflight, change your destination and request
different altitudes (based on 1,000 feet increments) by a simple menu
command. This feature alone is worth the upgrade, IMHO - No more
"call sign, your IFR flight plan is terminated..." which used to
really irritate me.

Cool.

Is it possible to define your own flight plans in some simple way, by
specifying waypoints and altitudes? I've always wanted to include
departure plates in my IFR flight plans, but changing the flight plans
by hand to insert the necessary waypoints and stuff is really tedious
(in FS 2002).

It takes a hit, but if you play with the settings it'll get where you
want it, performance wise. I've heard some say it runs faster for
them.

Faster as compared to FS 2002?