MS flight Sim or Xplane

[cmorris]

what's the best buy  MS flight Sim or Xplane

 

[1964-M20E]

I'm only VFR but I use ASA's IFR on top simulator to pracitce approaches.  Seems to work well for me.  There are no ground visual effects except for runways.

[Jeff_S]

It depends on a few things, the first of which is what machine you run. MS FS is only available in Windows, so if you run a Mac you would want X-Plane because otherwise you have to run in VMWare or similar. Also, MS FS has been discontinued so it's not currently well-supported by MS, but I have heard they intend to bring it back.

The general feeling is that, while MS FS has perhaps better visualizations and polish, it isn't actually as accurate for simulating real flight. X-Plane, after all, has versions that are built into actual FAA-approved simulators where MS does not (the home version, of course, is not approved for logging). X-Plane has a totally different approach to modeling flight and generally gives more accurate flight characteristics in all phases, with appropriate differences between airframes, wing types, etc. It is also well-supported and in continual upgrade, with a new Version 10 due out soon that promises to blow the doors off (although you'll need a pretty powerful gaming machine to get the full effect).

 

[rbridges]

I'm glad to see this thread.  I was planning to purchase the MS FS, but I'll see what others have to say.