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Flight Simulator on a Mac.

A

Amsco

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 13, 2008
24
0
Someone in the Apple forums wrote that you could potentially run Microsoft Flight Simulator on a Mac using Boot Camp.

I was to understand that you had to have a copy of Windows on your Mac to use Boot Camp, is this right? I would love to do this, as I love PC games, but what's the risk factor for viruses/spyware if I run Windows on my Mac, but ONLY use it for gaming?

Thanks for your help.
 
Juan Moro said:
Search for Boot Camp on apple.com and/or the forums.

Are we in 2006 again? :p
Click to expand...

I practically am. I've only had my Mac since October, first one for me. I have been to it's page on Apple.com but I figured I'd pick brains here to see what users think.
 
Boot Camp is a utility that partitions a section of the Mac's HDD to use for a bootable Windows installation. You must have a copy of XP SP2 (Home or Pro) or greater to complete the installation, as it allows you to boot into Windows.

Virus risk is identical (on the Windows side) as it is on a Dell or HP or Gateway, as it is a Windows machine at that point. If you're only running games, then risk is minuscule, as a rule.
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
Boot Camp is a utility that partitions a section of the Mac's HDD to use for a bootable Windows installation. You must have a copy of XP SP2 (Home or Pro) or greater to complete the installation, as it allows you to boot into Windows.

Virus risk is identical (on the Windows side) as it is on a Dell or HP or Gateway, as it is a Windows machine at that point. If you're only running games, then risk is minuscule, as a rule.
Click to expand...

Very good. Also, my MacBook Pro (15 inch) should be able to play anything, right? I'm looking to play Bioshock, Flight Simulator, maybe Condemned. New stuff.
 
It will play anything that the hardware (CPU/RAM/GPU) support. Laptops are not designed for graphics-intensive gaming in general, though most will remain playable.

This isn't a Mac thing, it's a component thing, doesn't matter who puts it together.
 
I run flight simulator X on my MacBook Pro 2.4 under Xp. It runes very well. I am happy with the frame rates that I get. The machine does get quite hot but my flights only last about 20 minutes.
 
dimme said:
I run flight simulator X on my MacBook Pro 2.4 under Xp. It runes very well. I am happy with the frame rates that I get. The machine does get quite hot but my flights only last about 20 minutes.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the game I wanted to play. I really don't want to hawk up $80 for Windows though.:(
 
Amsco said:
That's exactly the game I wanted to play. I really don't want to hawk up $80 for Windows though.:(
Click to expand...

I used a copy of XP off of my old laptop which is no longer in use and FSX works excellent on my 2.8 Ghz iMac. I haven't noticed any overheating problems at all and I have been able to run it at full frame rate. Make sure you disable all networking with XP unless you want to invest in a virus scan. I dont play multiplayer so I dont need it.
 
It's a shame about the whole virus thing. When I get my new Mac I want to play FSX and I really fancy flying online on one of those 'virtual' air traffic control sites, like VATSIM.

Looks awesomebut I am worried about viruses, though I suppose you can use the OSX to download game updates and patches, save them externally, then load them into Windows from there.

I have no idea how windows viruses infect your machine (except the obvious things like email attachments...)
 
Flight Simulator on Mac

I run Vista on my iMac and use it to play FSX (Flight Simulator), Call of Duty 4, Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2 etc etc. In fact I pretty much use the windows side for games and the OSX side for everything else. The games run smoother than my on my friends PC.

I did in fact get a virus and some malware on the windows side (The Mac side does not get infected at all) but managed to clear it all by buying anti spyware and virus software which now runs constantly. I DID NOT get the virus from playing online or from any updates. The main thing to be wary of is browsing the web and emails. I now just use the OSX side for this.

Don't worry about it, go for it. Bootcamp works like a charm.
 
Thanks Grey - and apologies for my naive question but I have been using macs for the last 10 years - can you get a virus by simply visiting a web site?
 
I use the free version of AVG anti virus of my windows machines. I have had very good luck with it. For me it works better that Norton AV. I don't usally have problems with the internet in windows but I am careful where I go. http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/
 
Viruses on windows

Thunderbird8 said:
Thanks Grey - and apologies for my naive question but I have been using macs for the last 10 years - can you get a virus by simply visiting a web site?
Click to expand...

I'm no security expert, but I've visited hundreds of sites with vista (and Firefox) and didn't have any problems that way. I also play online games a lot. I got a virus through my own stupidity. I searched for anti spyware software and downloaded and installed one. Vista always asks for Admin approval which I gave. I didn't realise (because of years of safe mac use) that most of these FREE anti-virus software sites are actually hacking sites. Go to a site like PC pro and only download recommended software if you need to.

If you just visit recognised gaming sites I doubt you will have a problem. I uses Spyware Dr by PC tools. It runs in the background and I feel very safe with it. I don't visit dodgy sites and I don't download anything unless I know what it is and where it came from.

Hope that helps.
 
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