I uninstalled my CFS3 after the first week I tried it. You're not really upgrading: it's engined quite differently and isn't readily compatible with the other sims. Forget about importing your favorite plane from FS98, CFS1, FS2k, CFS2 or FS2k2 and personalizing it -- you may as well be working with a Ubisoft program.

CFS2 can certainly be considered an upgrade from CFS1 and I do occasionally run it. The problem I've had with it is with sizing: everything seems much smaller than it does to me in reality. However, I've had an eye test within the past year and was told that my eyesight wasn't considered normal to begin with -- even my weaker (left) eye used to be rated at 20/17, meaning that I was seeing things with somewhat more magnification to begin with. For you, the visual may be more accurate and the planes from the previous simulators can be imported into it.

I'm not saying that CFS3 is really an evil program -- I just don't like the basic incompatibility.


P.S. I see no reason for problems should you wish to install CFS3 with your XP OS.

1. We were talking about what qualified as an actual 'upgrade' of CFS1.
2. Because I personalized some CFS1 planes with textures, panels and, sometimes, performance; I also occasion to use them in CFS2 (which I can't in CFS3).
3. I never said tko had to do so but, rather, could.

Nothing was said about avoiding the native or add-ons for CFS2 and certainly nothing about operational inferiority.
I merely have a preference to CFS1 and CfS2 vs. CFS3 since I like to personally customize my aircraft. I've also retrograded some CFS2 planes for CFS1; neither am I suggesting that anyone else need mess around with the .air and .mdl files: it's just something that I can do on my own computer between these two sims (and FS98/FS2k...) because of their similar file formatting. This is why I consider CFS2 an upgrade and not CFS3, the latter being in a kind of its own (that doesn't mean it's a bad sim and tko may prefer it).

Borrowed? Microsoft likes to get their payment from each person, as per EULA, "You may install, use, access, display, run, or otherwise interact with (“RUN”) one copy of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, or any prior version for the same operating system, on a single computer, (“COMPUTER”). If not prevented by copy protection technology, the primary user of the COMPUTER on which the SOFTWARE PRODUCT is installed may make a second copy for his or her exclusive use on a portable computer."

The other problem is that you'd have to go running after the CD when you needed it. Although it's true that I've updated my .exe files to run the programs without the CDs, I do have the CDs (extras for CFS1).

As to memory, I don't know what you've got for a computer and what background programs you may have running. I'd expect that you have something -- such as your memory cache -- set wrong/too low. When you buy the CD in the box, the installation requirements are printed on one edge or another. Just as CFS2 is a larger program than size-friendly CFS1, so is CFS3 even larger.

If you click into the following link, perhaps there's a reason that CFS3 can be purchased at a lower price than CFS2:
flightsim sales.

Well, as I previously stated, I haven't done any work with CFS3 -- I uninstalled soon after trying it; I'm not even sure where I have the program box hidden. An indication of this is that you're contacting me in the CFS(1) forum; you've also been posting in the CFS3 forum where, I should hope, someone can better help you than I.
I have checked the download sections for CFS3 and I do note there's not much in the line of scenery add-ons and there's more Me109s in the aircraft list than anything else.

james007 has said about the same as I have and has provided you with links to lower program prices (although my link provides a few his doesn't, they may be cheaper if you find them on his).

As long as you have the disk, anyway, or you don't intend to run all of the screens there should be no problem.