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 - Absorbing, demanding flight simulator for serious aviation enthusiastsX-Plane 9 is my first experience of the X-Plane series, and given the mixed reviews I was not expecting to be so thoroughly impressed. On my platform (Mac) it is smooth, stable, fluid, intuitive, engaging and very demanding; in short, everything a serious flight simulator ought to be. I bought a Saitek AV8R-01 (Aviator) flightstick, which is designed for Windows platforms but which functions perfectly with my Mac, and the flying simulator is almost flawless. I have a G5 with 2GB RAM, which is about the bare minimum for running X-Plane 9, but it is still very stable. I am overwhelmed by the options and expandability of this software. X-Plane 9 is not a game - it is a training tool and experimental platform for aviation enthusiasts. For the price you will not find another simulator that can hold a candle to it. If you've ever flown a real aeroplane, you'll recognise the attention to detail, the sensitivity, the functions, the instruments and the full-immersion of the flying experience. Rating: - An undeserved bad rapI am neither a pilot nor a "gamer" but I used to enjoy MS Flight Simulator, and when I went exclusively to a Mac several years ago my only regret was that I has to leave Flt.Sim. behind. X-Plane 9, which I just discovered, is even better than I remember Flt.Sim. I bought an inexpensive joystick (Logitech Extreme 3-D Pro, about $35 at Amazon), and then installed X-Plane 9 on my iMac. The installation took about an hour but it went flawlessly. The joystick was recognized by the program, and I was easily able to calibrate it by following the very clear instructions. I selected the Cessna 172 as my trainer plane and a local airport as my home field (again following the clear instructions). The first flight was not a thing of beauty but I was able to take off, circle the field, and make a safe, albeit shaky, landing. This is not a toy and some of the "gamers" who complained about the lack of instructions or the problems in controlling their aircraft were probably using jets and/or multi-engine aircraft for their initial flights, and expecting instant gratification. I have substantial learning to do (and it's a steep curve) but even at this early stage, I can say with confidence that this is a superb and flexible program which is well worth the investment of money and time for anyone who wants to enjoy a true flight simulator on their Mac. Rating:  - X-plane 9Scenery not as good as Microsoft Flight Simulator X.Mecanics are counter-intuitive;not very easy.Harder to program the Logitech Force joystick than FSX. Flight dynamics OK. Not worth the price. Rating: - Improved from X-Plane 8, but still not excellentI have been growing up with the Flight SIMs since SoloFlight back in the '80s on a Commodore 64, so I can honestly say, as many would agree that the flights SIMs have come a very, VERY long way. But I must contest those who state that this is the most realistic flight SIM in the world---not that it isn't, but it certainly isn't REAL. I'm sure Austin would agree that there's quite a bit of evolution still in store before this can possibly match the real world. But with that said, I can offer my hopefully un-biased approach to FlightSim X and X-Plane 9. Graphics - Smoother in X-Plane, and flows better with most video cards, seamless in nature, and quite attractive, especially without having to download add-ons to see tire marks on a runway. Runways, for that matter actually imitate real runways in that they are allowed to have a "grade", or slight slopes. FlightSim X still has flat runways, and limited graphics on them. Weather is also something to be happy with in X-Plane, though, especially the fog, rain, thick clouds, etc. Flying above the clouds is very cool, indeed. Now where the graphics of FlightSim X outdoes the graphics in X-Plane 9 is by way of natural sunlight. X-Plane has a much colder (more blue) cast to it's sunlight, along with low contrast on landscapes which give the appearance that a cloud is always hovering over the area you're flying in or taxi-ing across. Flight Sim X has the opposite effect, where an overcast sky might still allow the ground to look like it's baking in the sun. So, ups and downs, we're not there yet in either SIM, but getting closer. Controls - X-Plane's got tons of them, which is an improvement (or curse in some people's eyes) over the last few SIMs. I still think there's more to offer down the road, though, but I can deal with what we have now. Joystick detection in X-Plane is not very reliable, but once detected, X-Plane knows you again. Flight Characteristics - Won't go into the details of how each work, as there's tons of other sites with that info, but I must lean toward FlightSim X as being more realistic in how the planes fly. X-Plane has a unique approach, which many tout as being the best possible, but when an airline pilot tells me that a C-5B Galaxy in X-Plane flies like an empty beer can, I have to agree that X-Plane seems to lack weight or momentum characteristics. I don't know if that's been addressed in the latest version of X-Plane, but all the Heavy Metal and MegaPlanes planes I have installed don't seem to fly like they would in Flight Sim X. In Flight Sim X, all of these attributes are considered, and you can even edit them to make the plane so heavy that it can't even take off. Plus, in X-Plane, if you simply jerk the yoke to the right or left, even the biggest planes react violently, where their real-world counterparts I doubt seriously would do the same. A C-5 is not agile, and because of that, C-5 pilots have procedures they use when taking off or landing in adverse conditions. However, in X-Plane, the B-52 and the C-5 I bought and installed are quite forgiving and don't seem to have much trouble performing some minor aerobatic maneuvers. One redeeming feature of "blade-technology" is that you're more likely to succeed when trying to execute an Auto-Rotate emergency landing in a helicopter. Detail - This is where X-Plane rules over Flight Sim X. If you want all your controls (well, for the most part), and the ability to control the environment, you can do more in X-Plane 9. Although, again I still think the sunlight effects need work, the weather, wind-sheer, updrafts, turbulence, etc. are better defined in X-Plane 9. If you fly along too slowly for a landing with a tail wind, and the lift gets low, you'll see the effects of your wing dropping, or something else happening. Overall - I'm fairly happy with X-Plane 9, bugs aside (yes there are quite a few), and when compared to Flight SIM X I can honestly say Microsoft will have more work to do in their next release, hopefully sometime before 2010. I can't wait! But for now, I will enjoy both X-Plane 9 and Flight Sim X as much as I can. Rating: - x-plane 9 boring, prepare for a very long install process -it had 6 disks-- most macs cant run this program on full graphics ---it also takes over 60 gigs of hard drive space !! only very serious mac flight sim gamers should pay for this game
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