So sad, I just learned of this game (and GOG) and twice now during the tutorial the game crashes: my screen freezes, though I can still hear noise. There is no way to get out of this (Alt-tab and Ctrl-Alt-Del) don't do anything. After I power down and re-start, my screen resolution is really low. I assume it has something to do with the video card, but I am pretty technically inept. Any ideas? I'd really like to play this - it was a blast before it crashes...thanks in advance.

Hi there. Have you tried using FS2_Open? If you still experience crashes with that one, we'll be better placed to help you. A good guide on how to get started is here:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=61606.0

thanks - I'll give it a try!