Hi Bob,
First and foremost please confirm that your computer confirms to the System Requirements of SS 2008 which I have indicated in a reply to another post of yours.
Yes, you can buy SS 2008 from the www.shipsim.com website. It is priced at US$ 21. Please note that only download versions are available and not the DVD. For another US $ 17, you can also buy the add -on pack "New Horizons". But if you are willing to spend $38 (21 + 17), I suggest you buy the Collectors Edition which is a 1.6 GB download. The CE is a combined version of SS 2008 and NH with a few extras. Please note that NH is required to play certain missions after you download a whole lot of FREE add on vessels. Besides this, you can also register yourself at another website called "Creator's Forum" and there are close to 200 free missions as downloads from there. Needless to say you need a valid credit card to make your online purchases from shipsim.com .
In the event you do purchase SS 2008, please register the License Key in your Profile in this Forum. This will allow access to other boards of the Forum and also avail Technical support.
Please feel free to post further queries if required.
Regards
vin_sun