There is no official release date yet.
If we may speculate, we would say september/october, as Jorg Neumann (head of Microsoft Flight Simulator) has alluded to this.
Microsoft stated that the minimum specification for MSFS2024 will be equal to the current system minimum requirements for Flight Simulator 2020, as shown below:
No. Microsoft is releasing Flightsimulator 2024 as a new Flight Simulator.
Even if you already own MSFS2020, you will need to purchase the software to upgrade from the 2020-version to the 2024-version (like with updates from P3Dv5 to P3Dv6, or from X-Plane 11 to X-Plane 12).
Flight Simulator 2020 will be receiving its world- and sim-updates until the release of Flightsimulator 2024.
It is likely that no additional updates will be released for MSFS2020 anymore, after the release of the new flightsim, except hotfixes or maintanance updates.
Yes! Although the announcement trailer did not show any Airliners, and an official list is not yet publiced, there is confirmed that several airliners are available at launch.
Almost all aircraft purchased on the official MSFS2020 marketplace will be compatible with Flight Simulator 2024.
Already purchased products (for the current version of Microsoft Flight Simulator) don't need to be re-purchased.
During a keynote presentation at FSExpo 2023 (Houston, TX), we've learned that one of the big improvements of Flight Simulator 2024 will be the loading times.
More data will be downloaded from the cloud during flight, so only the absolute neccesary files needs to be installed.
Almost all aspects of the simulation will be improved by the development team, including improved aerodynamics and physics, improved airplane systems and better avionics. There also will be several improvements to scenery, i.e. improved ground details (including 3D trees), improved sea- and ground traffic and the introduction of seasons.
Please check out a comparision of MSFS2020 and MSFS2024 below, where you can see more detailed cliffs and more realistic vegetation in the Grand Canyon.
Microsoft has shown a screenshot of the detail of the Grand Canyon in MSFS2024 during their November, 23 developer stream. Thanks to reddit-user simtom we're able to compare the level of detail between MSFS2020 and MSFS2024.Take notice of sharp and defined cliffs which can be seen in Micorosft Flight Simulator 2024, where these aren't visible in MSFS2020.
