Macs & FSX ?

[timholyoake]

I have been told that Macs can run Windows as well as MacOS. If this is so then... Can they run FSX within this enviorenment?
My problem at the moment is that I need an upgrade, and a MAC is the answer to all my prayers EXCEPT for running FSX . but I really can't afford to upgrade my PC AND buy a MAC..
could someone enlighten me on this please?

[DaveG]

I believe Bill Ortis of Lionheart Creations runs FSX on a Mac so it is possible.

How well it runs, & if there are any "side-effects" I don't know.

[ianhind]

I don't think there are many Mac users on here (and that includes me)

But I recall "Parallels" as a means of running Windows and a check on Google indicates "Bootcamp" as well.

Further Googling reveals:

http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=105366

http://discussions.apple.com/message.js ... D=11303924

Until a Mac owner comes along with real world experience, you might want to check out the flightsim forums or just Google with "mac fsx bootcamp", etc

[TSR2]

When you install Win7 on your mac it will run FSX fine, however as the spec of most Macs are often limited as Apple will only support a very limited range of hardware upgrades you'll need fairly high end Apple hardware in the first place to make a decent fist of it as its not like you can go and buy a decent Nvidia Graphics card for them.

[SkippyBing]

If you use bootcamp then you're essentially running a normal PC with windows on it, it's not a virtual machine running in OSX it's a standard PC. So FSX will run as well as it would on a PC of that spec.
Of course I can't see how a Mac can be the answer to any question other than 'I have too much money to spend on a computer what shall I do!'

[ianhind]

If you use bootcamp then you're essentially running a normal PC with windows on it

But my understanding is that the graphics card options may not be as high end as a PC (?) which therefore may limit FSX performance.

Which paraphrases Ben's response.

[SkippyBing]

But my understanding is that the graphics card options may not be as high end as a PC (?) which therefore may limit FSX performance.

Your graphics cards options are whatever is in the white box Apple sell you, the snag with Macs is that you can't just pop down to PC World, buy a new graphics card, slot it in the machine and expect it to work. You can upgrade Macs, but you generally have to do it via Apple who will charge a small fortune for something you can get in PC World for about £50, the difference is unless you're willing to write your own drivers you can't be sure the item you buy from PC World will be the right version to work. You can get Macs with high end graphics cards that will happily run FSX, but it's going to cost, seriously flying lessons might work out better value.

Essentially Apple have a very limited hardware set which means they don't have the nightmare scenario MS does of trying to support a near infinite combination of part options. But it does mean you can basically choose a 'cheap' low end card, a medium cost middle of the road card or a ridiculously overpriced high end card.

I think the proof that Apple aren't as good as they think they are is that iTunes for Windows is a crock of ****, because it involves supporting more than a couple of combinations of hardware components. Despite the fact that all they really have to do is use the Windows APIs.

If this sounds like a slight rant it's because I spent six months at the start of the year with some Mac users who a)told me how great Macs were and how 'it just worked', and b)asked me how to add pictures to e-mail and play DVDs. Also OSX is basically BSD Unix with a pretty front end, so it's not like Apple actually did a lot of work to come up with their OS.

[SkippyBing]

Yeah, I may have a problem with Macs thinking about it...

[DaveB]

I enjoyed that Skip.. both parts

'It just works'..
Yes.. isn't that a common statement from Mac users and one I've heard many times myself. USB without the hassle

ATB

DaveB

[nigelb]

Skip - I certainly agree with your comment on iTunes - it is a bloated and takes ages to install. Quick Time is as bad. During install it will ask if you want the Aplle update software installed. I update only if Secunia tells me there is a security patch available and so I uncheck the box. It is installed anyway. Apple may write good sodtware for Macs but they fail when it comes to Windows.

Nigel²