flight simulator recommendations

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I'm seeking to purchase a flight simulator for a young teenager who's interested in aviation. He would be playing it on a fairly new Windows laptop. I'd prefer to get one that just uses the keyboard and not a bunch of separate controllers. It should at least have regular commercial planes in it. Combat planes with combat missions would also be welcome, as a bonus.

Any recommendations? A rather recent game would be preferred. I see that Microsoft has Flight Simulator X, but I get the impression that it's been out a couple of years.

[CRTGAMER]

I'm seeking to purchase a flight simulator for a young teenager who's interested in aviation. He would be playing it on a fairly new Windows laptop. I'd prefer to get one that just uses the keyboard and not a bunch of separate controllers. It should at least have regular commercial planes in it. Combat planes with combat missions would also be welcome, as a bonus.

Any recommendations? A rather recent game would be preferred. I see that Microsoft has Flight Simulator X, but I get the impression that it's been out a couple of years.

I "fly" Microsoft Flight Sim 2004 which is even older, been very happy with it. The best part is all the addons that can be downloaded, tailoring the sim to what and where you want to fly. No combat, just very beautifiul flying. You can get a Flightstick on the cheap at Thrift Stores and Swap Meets, so much better for simulation over the keyboard and mouse.