1. No, it is not.
2. You access the systems and FMS in the cockpit of the aircraft you are flying, either on the control panels or from the FMS located in the cockpit.
With your normal connection, start the update, go do something else, check back in a few hours. Nothing you do is going to speed up the MS servers or eliminate the hundreds of users also trying to update today.
Internet speeds also depend on the computer/server at the other end of your connection. In this case it's Microsoft servers trying to allow everyone to access the same update.
Its because thousands of US users are all updating at once. Yep, just leave it alone and do something else. And now East Coast and Central time business are all closing for the day.
Default weather has been disabled. There are third party solutions for that.
Also note that if you have a newer operating system, there are a few extra installation steps. There is a pinned topic all about that at this forum.
Says someone else who knows very little about MSFS.
Let it be clear that the two above posters tried to stir the pot by bringing MSFS into this thread, not I. But when falsehoods are posted I will be the first to call them out.