reading the blurbs they sound like the same thing?

I might be wrong but I think that the only one ment for PC/Mac is "world of planes".
The other is console only.

//

WTF Haja you there? Lång taim mait!
Nils

Rödeby? Kallinge här......
Flyger med SvAF F19.

Birds of steel is the console version of birds of prey, or vice vers.
World of planes will be the next step/version with better graphics, flight models, damage model...etc.
It won't be as hardcore as Clod, but might be a respected successor/competitor of old IL2 still.
Time will tell.

Close but not quite .. Birds of Steel is like an improved Birds of Prey .. but both are console..

World of Planes is an improved Wings of Prey .. and has not been released yet.. so I can't speak on it..

Neither (Birds of Steel, Birds of Prey or Wings of Prey) are as hardcore or as good as CoD or IL246. Wings of Prey is not bad .. but it's limitations in light of when it was released and what came before it (Janes.EAW,CFS1,2&3 and of course IL2 and IL2 FB)

As an avid Il2 user for over a decade now, I had small expectations on Wings of Prey (PC) when it was relased a few years back... but I bought it to support the genre.. I was actually positivley surprised when I flew it the first time (sim mode).. it felt almost as home i.e IL2. I understood after reasearching a bit that Gaijin Entertainment bought IL2 flight models when they first developed Birds of Prey (console version of wings of Prey) See video below. No wonder I felt like at home.... maybe a tad simplified... The reason I hardly never ever fly Wings of prey is that the missions are very rudimentary and multiplayer expericence is almost nill which is a show stopper for me.

World of Planes is, as mentioned, a new MMO game which is developed on the Wings of Prey platform, soon in beta test phase. Focus is multiplayer so for me this could be very interesting... considering the use of basic IL2 Fight models and now developing/tweaking it WoP have the potential to be a "new IL2 on graphic steroids" with self casting shadows and stuff.

I have a hard time seeing it be as advanced as C(l)oD simuationwise, but after running a benchmark alpha version on my rig, it will be a lot less hardware demanding that C(l)oD is.. as C(l)oD is now anyway.

I can imagine how the flightmodels are, considering the IL2 "heritage", so for me to see it as "intersting" comes down to the actual gameplay. Focusing on online experiences ...how is this multipayer developed.. what can you co with it... are the maps only small as in WoP... will we have support for bomber cockpits featuring all kinds of airplanes or will this be online fighterpilot furball galore experience alone... will missions be objective oriented. etc etc etc... Time will tell but I will keep my eyes on it.... in the meantime IL2 is still the major Sim for me considering CloD is still broken...Looking forward to next promised C()oD atch...which will focus on the majoor griefs wsuch as...gfx... performance... launcher issued etc etc...

here is the quick IL2/Wings of Prey comparison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPuXvo4DSmg

it looks promising:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGKMQuq8jF8&feature=player_embedded

Plase visit us at http://www.svaf.net

@Nils: Hej på dig gamle vän skickade ett PM
@CoNa: Tjenare, kul att se fler från dessa trakter. Flyger med 332_Viking för närvarande http://www.332viking.no/.
Flyger o flyger förresten, vi strular med CloD men i väntan på det ska fungera kör vi ARMA2