Two of the brains behind Microsoft's Flight Simulator game are taking flight with a new startup company called SwitchGear Software.

Steve Lacey and Joe Stacy -- who together spent 21 years in various roles at Microsoft -- formed the startup in January. They are still very much in the early stages of development -- trying to find office space in the Bellevue area (a process Lacey describes as "a pain"). They are also just beginning to meet with angel investors and venture capitalists.

Though Lacey and Stacy both worked in development roles on Flight Simulator, they are not creating a new game. The company says it is simply looking to make "home computing less stressful." Official release date of product is about a year out, but Lacey tells me that a test version will be rolled out much sooner.

"We're focusing on solving some of the common pains that come with home computer ownership - the whole idea came about from a particular pain that I was having, quickly followed by a 'duh, what if we just built a solution like this' moment," said Lacey.

You can read more about Lacey and SwitchGear on his blog, which talks about everything from the company's new logo to his experiences at the Northwest Entrepreneur Network.

Lacey says the company is in "stealth mode" -- adding that the term is getting a bit of a bad rap lately.

"We're not planning on being "stealthy" all the way up until launch," he said. "Would people say Microsoft is in 'stealth' mode because they're working on a bunch of products that they haven't disclosed publicly yet? Probably not."