MS Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator
The logo used for the series since version 5.0
Genres	Amateur flight simulation
Developers	subLOGIC Bruce Artwick Organization Aces Studio
Publishers	Microsoft Microsoft Game Studios Dovetail Games
Creators	Bruce Artwick
Platforms	DOS, Windows, Mac OS
Platform of origin	DOS
First release	Microsoft Flight Simulator 1982
Latest release	Microsoft Flight Simulator X 2006

Microsoft Flight Simulator (often abbreviated as MSFS or FS) is a series of flight simulator programs, marketed as video games, for the Microsoft Windows, and earlier the MS-DOS, operating systems. It is one of the longest-running, best-known and most comprehensive home flight simulator programs on the market. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed significantly from Microsoft's other software, which was largely business-oriented. At 35 years it is the longest-running software product line for Microsoft, predating Windows by three years. Microsoft Flight Simulator may be the longest-running PC game series of all time, and has been credited with instigating the emergence of aviation-oriented joysticks as the predominant control method for PCs.

Bruce Artwick began the development of the Flight Simulator in 1977. His company, subLOGIC, initially distributed it for various personal computers. In 1981, Artwick was approached by Microsoft's Alan M. Boyd who was interested in creating a "definitive game" that would graphically demonstrate the difference between older 8-bit computers, such as the Apple II, and the new 16-bit computers, such as the IBM PC, still in development. In 1982, Artwick's company licensed a version of Flight Simulator for the IBM PC to Microsoft, which marketed it as Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.00.

In 2009 Microsoft closed down the ACES Game Studio, which was the department responsible for creating and maintaining the flight simulator series. In 2014, Dovetail Games were granted the rights by Microsoft to port the Gold Edition of Microsoft's Flight Simulator X to Steam and publish the new title - Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition.