No Windows 7 Upgrades for Europe
It's all because of the IE8 deal with the EU.
When Windows 7 hits on October 22, it’ll come in flavors that are familiar to us from before with full and upgrade versions. Countries that a part of the European Union, however, won’t be getting the upgrade version due to the recent events between Microsoft and the European Commission.
“To ensure that Microsoft is in compliance with European law, Microsoft will be releasing a separate version of Windows 7 for distribution in Europe that will not include Windows Internet Explorer,” the Redmond company said in a memo to PC manufacturers.
The result of that is that European consumers looking to jump into Windows 7 will have to back up their own data and perform a clean install, according to Gizmodo. Apparently the decision behind the lack of an upgrade option stems from quality assurance. Microsoft can be relatively sure about what happens with a clean install, but it is unable to control what happens when Windows 7 is upgraded onto a system that already has browsers already installed on it.
“We don't want to break anyone else's software, we don't want to break our own software, and we don't want the customer on the phone with support,” said Mike Ybarra, general manager of Windows Product Management, to the gadget blog.
Fortunately, those running Windows Vista or XP won’t be stuck with paying for full version prices. Microsoft said that it would offer upgrade pricing on the full licenses (for those who qualify), though didn’t detail how it would go about verifying existing licenses. European customers will also get an offer for discounted upgrades starting July 15.
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Bloody EU bunch of idiots.
This sounds more like the rules they were considering to make sure that software performs reasonably (and if not has sufficient support / patches etc) rather than the IE8 point. Unless MS is being vindictive I suppose.
If the rules came in and 1% of people upgrading had issues with software due to the upgrade process - that'd still be quite a lot of hassle/expense for them. Personally I think that sounds more like what the chap is referring to in the quote above - although I'm no authority on it
Well, Tom's US seems to have skimmed over the issue so we're not getting a lot on Tom's UK. Guardian Tech website had a good article.
"Microsoft can be relatively sure about what happens with a clean install, but it is unable to control what happens when Windows 7 is upgraded onto a system that already has browsers already installed on it."
Hang on..that applies to any upgrade version too. What happens when a Canadian does an upgrade install and they have Firefox or Chrome on it?
Plus the EU didnt ask for this.
Sounds like a good time to switch to a decent operating system!! (Linux/Mac)
Haha
Yeh this is way of saying "fuck you EU for hating us!"
Shafted again
I would support MS boycotting Europe until the arseholes in Brussels give-over and STFU.
My god, we need to get out of the EU and have nothing to do with them ASAP...
Ergh, such a retarded thing for the EU to focus on.
Just a load of hassle and wasted money for taxpayers in the EU, Microsoft, and consumers.
How does internet explorer suppress competition?
IT ALLOWS YOU TO DOWNLOAD OTHER BROWSERS.
It is almost equivalent to forcing a car manufacturer to sell a model without wheels, because they only offer one brand of tire.
Guys,
The EU hasnt asked MS to remove IE.
MS has done this for other reasons, possibly political but not because they have to.
I agree with you all, maybe MS should be able to get away with any thing it wants to. Maybe MS should make it impossible to install firefox or any other browser. Thats sarcasm btw.
Lets not forget that MS have been found guilty of anti competitive behaviour in both the US and the EU, IMO they deserve everything they get.
Crikey, will all you EU haters grow-up and learn to read !!
The EU has found and heavily fined MS in violation of EU competitive regulations over limiting users to only 1 browser, in this case IE. You should be jumping with glee over this, cos the EU has done something good!
In the ruling, the EU NEVER told MS to remove IE, what it instructed MS to do was to make ALL browsers optionally available to users when installing MS operating systems.
In response, MS has thrown it's toys out of the pram, and said it will not provide any brower bundled in Win7 to Europe.
MS are the tossers, not the EU ...
Exactly as bri193 says. I say fine em some more for chucking their teddy out of the pram, and keep fining them until they wise up.