Actually, I think that the product code problem may just be the beginning of the "fun". I can't get the game to recognize the existence of my joystick. I'm not about to fly my Spitfire with the up, down, left, right keys. The good times just never stop.

The Steam is no surprise to me at all, because I kept track of all the developments when it was released in Europe and UK. But I still refuse to go the Steam route. I'd get out of all PC games altogether first if I had to go to Steam. I'll stick with older games like IL2 for now. But if Steam and things like it are the future of PC gaming, eventually I'll get out of PC games altogether.