Dunno about the free weekend, but the way I look at it, I'm playing the game, not marrying the developer's daughter.
I only play WB2.77 because of the squad; that is what makes ANY game fun for me. As for WB3.x, it looks to be shaping up into a great game, but isn't there yet for me, mostly, as stated, because the squad is still limited to WB2.77. The squad also plays some WWIIol and is working to get Il-2 going, and again, that is what makes for a good online experience.
The differences between AH, WB and WWIIol are less than we pretend, mainly it has to do with who we fly with, not what game we fly.
All that said, some things just do not do it for me, like the AWACs radar here, the lack of "polish" in WB3, etc.
All I know is that we have more GOOD choices than we ever have before as fans of WWII and Aviation, Salute ALL the designers!