The news of the release comes in time, before Microsoft announce the release date for "Flight".
X-Plane 10 packaging box artwork.
Many users are now in a predicament - whether to wait for Microsoft Flight or purchase their copy of X-Plane 10 now. However, I'm sure many of you will be purchasing both.
If you're new to X-Plane and always debated about making the switch from a Microsoft product before because of the lack of features, you will not be disappointed with version 10 of X-Plane.
Version 10 comes shipped on 8 Dual Layer DVDs - so you're going to be getting amazing photo-realistic scenery with many advanced graphics features.
The official product description states:
Ultra-realistic flight simulation for PC, Mac and Linux.
This European edition includes over 30 aircraft, FAA approved and worldwide scenery with custom European airports. Across 8 double-layer DVD-ROMs.
This is the only new flight simulator in five years. Fly it now!
X-Plane 10 is the latest version of a simulator that has been in development continuously for almost 20 years.
Designed to be the most flexible flight simulator it is usable on Windows, Mac and Linux systems and has a fully open structure that allows the virtual pilot to customise every part – whether they want to fly light aircraft, military jets, helicopters or heavy iron.
With thousands of compatible add-ons there is almost no aircraft that is not simulated and there is a whole world to explore from the depths of Alaska to busy European airline hubs and exciting adventures from oil rigs to aircraft carriers too.
X-Plane 10 is so realistic it’s been approved by the FAA (America’s aviation authority) as a certified training tool.
At its core is a virtual wind tunnel that creates the most realistic flight modelling available on a desktop. Equally capable of simulating every type of aircraft, the virtual pilot is able to experience the challenges of flying big airliners or tiny ultra-light aircraft.
The virtual world in X-Plane 10 is what makes this version different from previous versions. The ‘Plausible World’ is a new style of virtual landscape that revolutionizes simulation. Created from many real world databases you will see almost all roads and built-up areas exactly as they are around you. The completely new rendering engine shows the world around you in high detail and with global illumination so lights behave like real lights.
Air Traffic Control will guide you from start-up to shut-down and also controls the other aircraft around you. Those other aircraft are not robotic as they are in other simulators, but they interact with the world in the same way as your own aircraft does. They will fight the same cross winds and turbulence as you encounter, they will need more runway to stop when the weather conditions are not favourable. Just like real pilots do, you will watch their take-off to be prepared for what your take-off will be like. It’s still simulated but it gets very close to real aviation!
X-Plane 10 is built with the future in mind and makes full use of the hardware in your system: if you own a fast multi-core machine you will be able to simulate more aircraft around you and see more details but even with a moderate-spec machine, X-Plane 10 is capable of displaying a tremendous amount of objects without slowing down.
Birds-eye view of a city in X-Plane 10.
For all of the screenshots, visit the X-Plane screenshots gallery.
The X-Plane 10 promotional video
