# Can I run Microsoft FSX on Mac?



## uPhone (Jun 29, 2008)

Does anyone here know if it is possible to run Microsoft Flight Simulator X on a mac? Doing a quick Google, I can only seem to find answers from about two years ago where people said despite having Bootcamp, they cannot run FSX, but that was a long time ago.

Does anyone know how I can run this program on my Mac? I'm really surprised, even though that it's a Microsoft game, that it isn't just available in a Mac version.


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## planders (Jun 24, 2005)

I see no reason why it wouldn't work in Boot Camp, since your Mac is a true Windows PC when running that way. Unless there's an incompatibility with the video card or something else, but I haven't run into anything like that among reasonably current software.

Probably won't work well in Parallels or Fusion, of course...


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

I can definitely confirm FSX will run quite well in either Parallels 4 or via Boot Camp, having done both under Leopard. I was actually surprised at how well it worked under Parallels. 

Ultimately however once MS dropped support/future releases of Flight Sim I switched to X-Plane which of course runs natively on the Mac. 

Edit: this is running it on an early 2008 2.4 ghz MBP.

Cheers,
Paul


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## uPhone (Jun 29, 2008)

pwstoneman said:


> I can definitely confirm FSX will run quite well in either Parallels 4 or via Boot Camp, having done both under Leopard. I was actually surprised at how well it worked under Parallels.
> 
> Ultimately however once MS dropped support/future releases of Flight Sim I switched to X-Plane which of course runs natively on the Mac.
> 
> ...


Really? Okay well,

Can you describe to me a little how Bootcamp works? Because for some reason, I really don't know why, I am really hesitant to do this. I just feel like I just don't WANT Windows on my Mac, but now that I think of it, I am a web designer and having the ability to do my web design on my Mac with all my old Windows programs would be great..

The only thing is, would this not be really expensive to do? How much does Bootcamp cost? And then, do I need to go and buy Windows? Wouldn't that be really costly? I did just drop $2300 for this Macbook Pro + Microsoft Word.

What do you think, how much will it cost?

Also, about X-Plane .... I did hear only recently that Microsoft is discontinuing the Flight Simulator franchise. But I am also hesitant about X-Plane. It seems really... I dont know... basic, no? It seems like it's made by a very small group and some aspects of its interface are a little unprofessional. Anyway, I've only tried the demo so I cant really critique it.

How do you think my MacBook Pro would handle FSX? Given the following specs:

2.53 GHz Intel Core Duo - 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3, 2009 Macbook Pro, Snow Leopard


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

You express some of the very same thoughts that I had/have. I didn't really want Windows on my MBP either. Bootcamp is already included with OSX so there is no additional cost there. Bootcamp just allows you to dual boot OSX and Windows, only Apple does it with style by including all the necessary device drivers etc to make your windows experience a little less painful. Please make sure you back-up before doing it because it will repartition your hard drive (you must allocate a certain amount of space to a windows partition). 

You do however need a copy of Windows. I used XP because I already had it laying around and my experience was that FSX didn't run very well under Vista. 

I had exactly the same concerns about x-plane... small group of developers. I actually tried the demo and was unimpressed with it. However the full unrestricted version is only like $40 or something so I ordered the full dvd set (6!!) and gave it a go. I agree, the interface is very "unix" like, so it does take getting used to. Ultimately however what is really important is the simulation itself. And being a pilot of full sized birds I can say it blows FSX out of the water. 

You can customize it in every way imaginable; level of detail, resolution, frame rates, multiple monitors/screen spanning (think 6 screen setups!!). It is truly a very very professional and commercial grade simulator. The flight models of the aircraft that I fly; Cessna 172, Piper Cherokee 180 and Seminole are very accurate to the real aircraft. Add in IFR approaches, turbulence, weather etc and really it makes FSX seems like a bit of a 'game'. Not to mention that I don't have to fire up windows to run it!

Having said all that, I was an FSX guy since Version 1.0 so I have lots of experience on that simulator as well.

Your machine is more powerful that mine and so I think FSX or X-plane would run beautifully on it. 

Any more questions don't hesitate.

Cheers,
Paul


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## uPhone (Jun 29, 2008)

That's really helpful advice!

Another concern I had was sort of the community aspect of it.... are there a lot of addons for X-Plane? Like Liveries? I also really love(d) VATSIM. I don't even want to ask if they have VATSIM for Mac, considering the last time I checked (about a month ago) they didn't even have it for Vista yet. 

Also, with the XPlane demo, I really was not impressed with the large aircraft, or at least how they looked. I tried the British Airways 777 and it was sort of blurry? But then again maybe my display settings were set to some low default?

It's hard to sort of choose because you're saying great things about X-Plane, but on the other hand I never actually got to experience FSX at all. This is because I bought it when it came out, and like many other people, did not have Vista (which it is apparently recommended that you are using Windows Vista) and I also had a bad (well, average) system at the time in terms of graphics. So I was getting something like 9 FPS with FSX vs about 30-40 FPS on FS2004, so I uninstalled FSX and just stuck to FS2004.

That being said, I never got to try any of the features like the moving jetways, the whole ATC tower thing, and all of the missions. I really wanted to play it but couldn't, but now I'm (sort of) in a position where I can. 

Maybe I have a disc lying around too - do new laptops come with the OS on a disc/is it legal/possible to install it on another machine? We just got another new laptop that includes Windows Vista 64-Bit, that would be great if it has a CD.

And on top of all this, I guess I would be able to use all my Adobe software. Speaking of this, what is the transition from operating systems like with Bootcamp? Do you just log out of one OS and log in with another? Or is their some type of icon in the dock/desktop to switch?

Thanks for your help! I was definitely not expecting to find another Flight Sim user here!


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

Glad to be of help! You're right, up until now I hadn't found any other Flight Sim users on here either.

From an add-on stand point, I think you're correct, there are fewer for X-plane, BUT I've still always been able to find what I'm looking for. Additional aircraft, liveries, panels etc. so it has been a bit of a non-issue for me.

Blurry on the 777? Hmmm not entirely sure. X-plane will add 'fog' to the weather/display if the frame rate drops below 20fps in order to keep the simulation reasonable and accurate. So maybe that is what you were seeing? It does take a little experimentation with the multitude of rendering settings to find the optimum for your setup. I definitely recommend reading the manual, as it describes in great detail what all the settings mean and how they affect frame rate.

I sort of did the same with FSX as I had an old slow P4 1.6 and FS2004 ran better on it as well. But once I had my MBP I had the horsepower to run FSX and explored it in more detail. The ATC tower option is reasonably good and not radically far off from a real exchange with ATC. Of course doing something like transiting Toronto airspace VFR isn't realistic at all but for radar approaches to busy airports it does a decent if slightly generic job. 

....


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

....

having issues with ehMac and can't post the rest of my reply for some insane reason!! Have done a cut and paste and will try again in the morning!

Cheers,
Paul


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

pwstoneman said:


> ....
> 
> having issues with ehMac and can't post the rest of my reply for some insane reason!! Have done a cut and paste and will try again in the morning!
> 
> ...


I had that too! Weird, eh?


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

...From a legal standpoint of installing Vista on a second machine with only one licence... well MS obviously isn't happy with that. Doesn't MS have all sorts of validation software now to prevent installing on more than one machine? I think so, although I haven't played with Windows now since XP. 

...


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

...It sounds as though you have some other Windows apps that you'd like to run as well and so might benefit from Bootcamp or Parallels. However are there Mac equivalents that you can use? Rebooting into Windows just seemed wrong to me and so I quickly migrated over to Mac apps. From a Flight Sim point of view I'd definitely recommend giving the full version of x-plane a try, as the cost is so minimal. How much do you spend on dinner with your wife or girlfriend?? Exactly. Besides you bought a Mac for a reason!! Mac apps are generally superior anyways.

Cheers,
Paul


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

I still can't post normally... there is one paragraph that no matter what seems to result in the 'blank screen'. The rest seems unaffected, almost as if there is some sort of filter. I was talking about Bootcamp and switching between OS's... no profanity or anything even remotely questionable!

Very strange indeed.

Cheers


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## uPhone (Jun 29, 2008)

That's weird about the posting issue!

But anyways thanks a lot! To be honest I cant even find my FSX discs right now but if I do find them, and if I can load Windows onto my Mac with a disc (if I have one) then I will try FSX. If it doesn't work out then I will have to just try XPlane!

Thanks!


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

You're very welcome, hope you get some kind of FlightSim running!! 

Cheers,
Paul


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## Darien Red Sox (Oct 24, 2006)

Just go out and get X-plane and then there is no need to mess with the dark side


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## pwstoneman (Feb 12, 2009)

Darien Red Sox said:


> Just go out and get X-plane and then there is no need to mess with the dark side


Totally agreed, hoping the OP will do exactly that. Being a large proponent of flying in general, any form of flight sim is better than none. Even better head out to the local regional airport and do a demo flight! It might just change your life. 

Cheers,
Paul


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