The flight planner has had a makeover within ACARS.
(http://www.viaintercity.com/images/acars/acars21.jpg)
We've expanded on the SimBrief feature and have put the flight planner within its own window so that you can run it alongside ACARS whilst flying.
One of the main new features is the Performance tab which gives you your aircraft weights, fuel figure and also calculates passenger and baggage loads. If your flying the Dash 8 Q400 then it will also calculate your takeoff and landing V Speeds. These are based on the speed charts that come with the Majestic Q400, and will update according to the weights which have been extracted from the OFP.
(http://www.viaintercity.com/images/acars/acars22.jpg)
You can also file your flightplan with VATSIM, so that it can be loaded quickly from within your VATSIM Client. The form will populate, and will just require you to select your Voice Capability and enter your VATSIM CID and Password.
As always ACARS will update automatically and you can find more information in the ACARS User Manual (http://viaintercity.com/forums/acars/acars-user-manual/)