LarsL

This may have been discussed somewhere else in this forum section and if so, I apologize in advance. I would like to know if anyone out there has confirmation or input on the compatibility of running RealFlight 6 on a Mac. This weekend I am picking up a Macbook Pro and all along I had anticipated getting RealFlight 6.

From past research here, on the “other site�, and just hearing from folks, I had understood that when Mac started using Intel chips in their computers, one was able to run simulators like RealFlight. Prior to this, running RealFlight was not possible. The key was to run it through Windows using Bootcamp.

On the Hobbico/Great Planes website, the systems requirements information only referenced the usual and did not make any mention of not being able to run RealFlight 6 on a Mac. On the Tower Hobbies site, I did see the following: “Not compatible with Windows NT, Mac platforms, or Windows emulators such as Virtual PC on a Mac.� This had me thinking that I would have to revert to getting an older version of RealFlight like 5.5, to be able to run on my Mac (again, I know others here have run these older versions on Macs with Intel chips using Bootcamp & Windows). I thought perhaps there was something new with RealFlight 6 that changed the ability to run on a Mac.

Wanting to check in with RealFlight, a few minutes ago I called Great Planes Customer Support for RealFlight. I asked them specifically if I could run RealFlight6 on my Macbook Pro. The support person said RealFlight 6 will run on a Mac with Intel chip using Bootcamp & Windows 7.

Confirmation from anyone?

Lars

PS: In addition to RealFlight 6, I planned on getting the Aerofly simulator which I know works with Mac native.

BubbasanJohn

Yes, I run Realflight on my mac in bootcamp and windows vista. Macs have the "same" chip set as pc's now (provided you are not using a legacy mac). Runs real nice. No problems with sound or connections with realflight. Iknow of no reason why running realfight on a mac book would be different than my imac, except screen size.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

They miss a lot of sales by ignoring Intel Macs and Bootcamp. I think you are 100% Windows when booting the Bootcamp partition. I use XP and ver. 5.5. The frame rate is great. I would buy 6 without worrying. GP must not need sales. It's not like they don't already use a long list for Windows system requirements.

artistic-aero

Can confirm all of the above. I'm running Windows 7 in bootcamp on my iMac i5. I upgraded the RAM to 12Gb which was very easy to do. Realflight 5.5 and now 6 run perfectly in the highest modes. Its a real shame there isn't a native version for the Mac, I do own Aerofly for the Mac, the Pro Deluxe and its a little temperamental to fire up but runs great. Eventually. Just always liked Realflight as it seems to have a wider community and has the whole online thing. I have used Parallels, but didn't get the best results, at least not as good as Bootcamp. Give your partition plenty of space though, Realflight with the add-ons etc can sure mount up!

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I ordered the upgrade yesterday.

pura

My Feedback: (5)

I just spent the past couple of days trying to get Real flight 6 to run on my quad core 2.66 Mac tower with 10.6.8 OS. I decided to install Windows 7 (64 bit version)and tried both BootCamp and Parallels. In Parallels it runs OK but the background scenery is jerky and though I tried giving it 4GB Ram it didn't seem to make any difference.

Windows and Real flight were installed within Bootcamp and I tried that way of running it. When I could get it to run, the scenery was smooth and it ran well overall, but many of the actual controls adjustments wouldn't work. Menus etc. just stayed the way they were from being set in Parallels.

As well I had problems booting back and forth between the two OS. Not sure if I set something up wrong within Windows, but I won't bother with the Bootcamp version. Not worth the trouble.

I also have Aerofly Deluxe which runs fine but there limited flexibility in the set-ups and they haven't added new planes in years.

Bill

opjose

Actually it runs much better in Bootcamp than Parallels.

It seems that you did not perform a clean Windows install in Bootcamp. You need to do that, get the Bootcamp upgrades, then after applying Windows Updates, install Realflight as an admin, and also let the DX9c installer run.

BubbasanJohn

Think you are having troubles with the parallels install conflicting with the bootcamp. What troubles are you having booting back and forth? To easily just start in either system, restart and at the start up chime hold down the option key, select your os and it starts. Did you install the bootcamp drivers from the OSX disk in windows? If not this could also be part of your troubles.

Windows bootcamp on mac (i'm running win7) is the best of both worlds. I can run any program and hardware made for both operating systems, native. No software slowdown like paralells.

pura

My Feedback: (5)

Thanks for the tips. I didn't load any special bootcamp drivers but just activated the program from within Utilities. I gave up using the Bootcamp method because I couldn't get back to MacOS. Holding down the Options key had no effect.
I suppose I could dump the Parallels program and start over.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

What do you mean by not getting back to MacOS with the option key? That should be a function of Startup Disk.

I have a duo core, 2 gHz iMac. Bootcamp and XP. RF 6.5 is 100% solid. It's never had a slowdown. I'm mentioning this because to show it's within doing.

BubbasanJohn

As BLW stated the option key command is not dependent on either os. If you cant select an OS this way something is very wrong. I would clean pram. Plus you need to install the bootcamp drivers from the OSX DISK while running windows. I would suggest removing parallels and reinstalling your boot camp partition and then a clean install of windows. THEN INSTALL THE BOOTCAMP DRIVERS IN WINDOWS FROM YOUR OSX DISK. Believe me it is worth doing. At the least trash parallels and install the boot camp drivers.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I missed the part about not installing Bootcamp drivers. You need these. I guess Bootcamp becomes an unstable process without them.

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

Parallels is an emulator that runs on top of OS X, Boot Camp is a disk partition devoted to booting and running Windows just like any other Windows computer. It is imperative with ANY computer that the drivers that control the computer components be installed.

Once Boot Camp is properly installed, your Mac is no longer a Mac, it is a Windows machine every bit as much as any HP, Asus or IBM. To switch back to Mac you just restart the machine while holding down the option key until the boot selection screen appears. If this doesn't work then you did not install Boot Camp properly.

If you can boot Windows but are having problems with Real Flight I can guarantee you did not install the drivers properly.

opjose

+2!

jsflagstad

So I have real flight G2, is that controller compatible with the newer versions? If so, where the best place to buy the newer software? I have a Mac as well, I have Win 7 running in parallels I guess I'd be interested in going to boot camp if I had a clue on how to do it. I also do have a PC running 7 as well but it's not a real high performing machine..

opjose

G2 is a very old product. The G2 controller is not usable in any later version.

The G3 controller still works in Realflight 7.x, but it is not officially supported, and the code may be modified at any point in a manner that may disable it working.

The G4 Interlink Elite, works with versions G4 through G7, and is basically the same controller packaged with a new copy of Realflight 7.

Realflight 7 IS "Officially" supported on Mac's running Bootcamp, not parallels.

jsflagstad

I loaded the G2 on to a cheap AMD PC I have that's about 4-5 years old. Works well and should serve well to train in my 9 year old son.