Anyone thinking about either or both titles then hope the following helps....
WOP will auto update any patches that have been released and MP is accessed within the game when launched. You must set up your Yuplay account as part of running WOP and accessing MP. WOP is user friendly in that respect and therefore 'plug and play' rather like the console versions.
IL1946 has undergone many changes in the last 10 years. The current DVD version is patched to 4.07. However, unlike WOP, you will need to download Patches 4.08, 4.09 and the latest one 4.10 (that is a cause of much excitement as it was released yesterday....

) and install them in the order that they were released.
For on-line you will need Hyperlobby - its free and gives you acces to many Flight sim servers but essential and very easy to use.
The install will set the graphics below the full potential. Maxing the graphics to 'perfect' depends on the spec of your machine, your GFX card and changes have to be made to the config file manually. There is a lot to learn believe me!
Apart from 1c this is another excellent site for IL1946 addons, tutorials, etc....
http://www.mission4today.com/index.php
WOP has a its own forum - Yuplay.
Finally, for both WOP and IL1946 get 'headtracking' - fly in pit view - 'TrackIR' or 'Freetrack' (I have both but prefer the latter....and its sooooo cheap!....

)