To be fair, I was trying the SMACX demo version, but you can forgive me if I didn't bother to buy the full version

------------------
Get paid for every second you spend online at http://referral.jotter.com/join/bulk
Refer people (like what I'm doing) to earn even more. $50 a month is not uncommon.

quote: I think you need to speak to Microsoft on this..

Yes And No!

Microsoft Windows is the platform, and sure it have some fault and bugs. Still my system was a know brand (AST) and a notebook (not something I can have changed adding unsupported hw, you see).

It was on the market with its Win 95 ors2 far before SMACX was released. Others games works just fine and lots of other business applications and utilities do the same.

We can scream about messy PC market and unstable platform, but I'm only the customer, not the engineers that draw and enforce the standard. Firaxis and all others software companies, Microsoft itself apart , works on the same gamefield.

Someone succed to make acceptable stable products, someone don't (not always).
Think what you like about it, but simply don't put your finger only to Microsoft.

Better I go to shop an helmet and some LAW (antitank weapon), then

Of course, when nanotechnology will become feasible I will start to be scared stiff to Microsoft, as if I'll be an enemy or the legitimate user of that NanoTechnological weapons!

Back to Topic, any chance to know the beta testing plan for the game? (I don't mean with defined date, just which milestones will be in and a main view of the effort Firaxis plan to put to have a first class game).

Anyways, I think Civ3 should definitely have a public beta, which I think the other civ games have never had.