Experiences of using Windows Flight Sims on an Intel Mac...?

[Thunderbird8]

Hi,

New member - first post. I am looking at upgrading my Mac now that Apple have started using Intel chips, and Windows can be run natively under Bootcamp. I have had to put up with not running games and flight sims for years, as having both a Mac and a PC was not affordable and I need the Mac for work.

What I would like to ask is this - can anyone out there share their experiences with Mac hardware and software and perhaps make some recommendations? Will FS run at all (?), might be the first question to answer!

I would like to get back into flight simming and if this is going to be practical would like some recommendations on:

1. The environment under which you would recommend using Windows (Bootcamp, Parallels etc)
2. What spec of Mac you are personally running and what the performance is like
3. Known 'issues'
4. A recommendation on actual FS packages, and the hardware to go with it. My last Joystick was an MS sidewinder!

Anything else you think I might value - thanks in advance!!

[Soundwhiz]

As long as your hardware can take the heat, you can play anything, and fairly well, using boot camp. The problem is the hardware. One is stuck with what one has. Apple are not keen on end users messing around under the hood. The latest line-up of Macs should be able to run FS9 with realistic settings.

[Thunderbird8]

Thanks, I am thinking about a high spec iMac:

2.8GHz Intel
Core 2 Extreme
2GB RAM (expandable to 4GB)
500GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory

What do you think of that?

[Soundwhiz]

That looks good. Drop a line and about how it worked out.

[Thunderbird8]

Will do, however I think we will wait until the January sales in case Apple knock a few quid off!