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History Takes Flight as "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight" Is Cleared for Takeoff

Newly Released Simulator Puts Players in Cockpit of History's Most Famous Aircraft

REDMOND, Wash. - July 29, 2003 - "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight" lands on store shelves today. This 20th anniversary edition of "Flight Simulator" celebrates the first 100 years of powered flight while continuing the traditions of realism, technological innovation and richness that have delighted aviation enthusiasts and pilots around the world and made Microsoft "Flight Simulator" the best-selling aviation simulation produced for the PC.* The latest version offers a combination of historical and modern aircraft, superior graphics, interactive 3-D cockpits, dynamic weather effects and interactive multimedia content to celebrate history and teach the basics of flight. "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight" is available today at retail stores nationwide for an estimated retail price of $54.95.**

"'A Century of Flight' allows pilots of all ages to take the controls of aircraft that most would otherwise never be able to fly," said Bruce Williams, business development manager for Microsoft "Flight Simulator." "Without leaving the ground, virtual aviators everywhere can experience what it was like to be one of the pioneers of flight. They also can fly a variety of contemporary aircraft in the most realistic skies available on the PC."

"Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight" allows everyone to celebrate the past by learning about and experiencing flight in such historic aircraft as the 1903 Wright Flyer,

Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny," Charles Lindbergh's Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" and the Douglas DC-3. There are 15 contemporary aircraft in the simulation, including personal aircraft such as the Cessna 172 Skyhawk SP and Robinson R-22 helicopter as well as turboprops and jumbo jets, each of which includes interactive 3-D virtual cockpits. "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight" includes some 24,000 authentic airports worldwide, interactive air-traffic control and a new dynamic weather system that creates real-time, real-world weather for virtual pilots to experience as they fly to their destinations.

In commemoration of the Centennial of Flight, Microsoft is acting as an official sponsor of the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) Countdown to Kitty Hawk. Visitors to the Countdown to Kitty Hawk pavilion can re-create their own first flight using "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: Century of Flight" and experience many of the same challenges the Wright brothers faced 100 years ago.

More information on "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight" is available online at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulator/. More information about the Countdown to Kitty Hawk is available at http://www.countdowntokittyhawk.com/.