Until 1.28c all previous versions of the eaw.exe needed a file-manager in order to run different theatres in the same EAW folder.
They all worked the same way. Files were copied from folders and pasted into the root folder.
To switch theatres these copies were deleted and new ones pasted into the root folder.
The numbers of files involved are large.
The GoG-OAW patch has 912 items in the Malta folder that need to be copied and pasted into the root folder in order to fly the Malta theatre.
The large numbers of files that are continually copied, pasted and then deleted by this system accelerates disk fragmentation, and that is the risk that users run

In comparison the 1.28c exe uses a "Dir.set" file which is copied and pasted into the root folder.
It is a string file containing the paths to the folders containing the files that the 1.28c exe needs to use.

In the case of "Malta" it reads:

Malta128C
FullMalta
savedata
NULL

The file itself is 143 bytes in size, and it is the only thing that needs to be copied and pasted.
A simple utility allows the player to pick the one that will be played, and the "Dir.set" file in the root folder is overwritten by the new one when a different theatre is selected;)

UAW160 uses three files.
The "Dir.set" file is still used for the paths to the folders containing the theatre files and is effectively the same as 1.28c
The other two are the "PDir.set" file which has the paths to the folders containing the aircraft skin files, and the "FMDir.set" file which has the paths to the folders containing the aircraft flight model files.
Once again a simple utility allows the player to pick the ones to be used.

In all honesty I would never go back to using a version of EAW that needs OAW (or something similar) again.

I've been sitting quietly on the sideline as this whole Gog thing plays out. I do understand that if it gets new players to come here it's generally a good thing.

However, (And I'm not looking for any kind of argument, just stating my personal opinion), once here we should be doing more to get them up to speed with 1.6, NOT the 1.2X line.

1.6 is literally a new game with a plethora of additions and features, some great, some small, not least of which are the vast number of aircraft that are only available using 1.6 execs.

There's been a lot of effort put into converting or adding things like OAW and SnapShot to the mix rather spending that time getting newbies up to speed with 1.6.

Again, just one man's opinion and now back to the Eastern Front aircraft project....................

Sadly there seem to be very few newbies via GoG

Their EAW forum still has only one page with 16 threads, and there has been nothing posted since April 11th
GoG EAW forum

Well, I guess we should be happy for any exposure, from any source.

You should be happy!, more new pilots have visited EAW than the last 16 years have produced.