Microsoft dumps Windows 7 upgrades for EU
Microsoft today told European consumers that they won't be able to do an "in-place" upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 when the latter ships this fall. In response, the company said it will sell full editions of the new OS at upgrade version prices.
The news confirmed details leaked earlier this week by TechARP.com that said users in Europe wouldn't be able to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, and instead would have to do a "clean install" of the latter.
The problem stems from Microsoft's decision to strip Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) from Windows 7 for the European Union market in the hope that would head off harsher demands by the EU's antitrust regulators. Those officials have charged Microsoft with illegally tying IE to Windows, and have hinted that they will require the company to create a ballot screen in Windows that would offer customers a choice of several browsers. Microsoft and several European-based computer makers oppose that idea.
Windows 7 minus IE will be tagged as an "E" edition when the operating system ships Oct. 22.
Today, Microsoft claimed that it was lack of testing time that forced its hand. "Because of what needed to occur around testing of Windows 7E, it became very clear that we would not be able to offer a retail upgrade version of that piece of software on October 22," Brad Brooks, vice president for Windows consumer marketing, said in an Microsoft-conducted interview posted on the company's site.
"So, we had a choice to make," Brooks said. "Either we delayed the launch of Windows 7 in Europe or ... we brought it all together and did something different. So, what we decided to do is do something different. So in Europe we're going to basically offer Windows 7E full version at upgrade prices."
Windows editions that Microsoft labels as "Upgrade" are not only lower-priced than those tagged as "Full" or "Full Packaged Product" (FPP), but are also commonly used to do "in-place" upgrades from an older to a newer version. (Upgrade editions do, however, have a "clean install" option.)
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Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
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