Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Deluxe Edition (PC)

Wow!! I'm now impressed and I'm not even using realistic settings.

I went out and bought FSX on the release date 13.10.06. I am an avid flight simmer and have had all of the Microsoft Flight Sim releases since FS5. After a 30min+ installation time I managed to get my first chance to take to the sky. At first I was little impressed with the graphics and the scenery on my first flight. The frames were jerky and the aircraft and screen movements took about 4 seconds to respond to the movements of the joystick. I have a 2.8GHz processor, 526mb DDR memory and Direct x9 installed. I was not happy and was seriously thinking about resorting back to FS9 (2004) until Windows Vista is released. However I persisted with FSX and tweaked my FSX settings more towards the left of the sliders and now I am running on very basic scenery and textures but it runs smooth and jerk free.
At the moment I can't really comment on the scenery as you will need Direct x10, Windows Vista and a whole load of memory at least 1GHz recommended and a decent graphics card! However I have completed about 17 of the 52 missions and I am now impressed. The missions are more realistic than FS9 and I have managed to get plenty of flying time in on these alone! The other bonus of the Deluxe version is the Multi Player Online Gaming. I recommend that you get yourself a set of headphones with a microphone for this added experience!
Other positives about FSX is the extra default aircraft, there is a challenge for any skill level of pilot. Beginners can work their way up from an ultra light all the way to a Boeing 747, with plenty of other aircraft in between with various colour schemes. Also the views options are much better than in FS9, you get more options in the view menu, with the spot plane moving smoothly around the aircraft and the tower view is the closest tower to your aircraft. Extra ground vehicles on roads and at the airport makes for that better experience, as the fuel truck comes to your aircraft, and a pushback from the gate really does happen.

Overall, Much better missions, good multiplayer function with regards the tower options, greater range of default aircraft, better graphics for the high spec PC, Easy for beginners to get into and also a challenge for the more experienced of us, good use of dynamic scenery, more accurate airports especially in the UK. The downsides are you need to wait until Windows Vista is out to experience the best of the game, and you need a decent spec of PC to get those really high quality graphics and scenery at the moment.

Final Verdict: If you can't wait buy it now you won't be too disappointed, if you can wait, get Vista and Direct X10 first to really get the flying experience.