wrote a post, but a timeout on this damn forum caused it to go buy bye and i'm not typing it again. short version. why no upgrade version in the UK?

Tommo - Short answer: Opera and their complaint to the EC. Ok.. Better answer... Since the Opera complaint was filed, Microsoft has decided to fire off a preemtpive strike. The only version of Windows 7 anyone in the EU will get is Windows 7E. Windows 7E is just like the regular version except there is NO option to install IE 8 anywhere on the DVD. The option to disable IE 8 in any other version was likely deemed to be not enough to prevent the EC from taking Microsoft to the cleaners with another judgement and another HUGE fine. Note that the EC recently nailed Intel for anticompetetive behavior to the tune of over a BILLION dollars. I'd have to say, if I was Microsoft, I would rather NOT have to fork over a huge chunk of my cash reserves to the EC either.There can't be an upgrade from Vista to Windows 7E for one simple reason - IE would already exist on the hard drive and any upgrade would likely carry over IE and it's components, as well as the registry entries needed to make it work. To make an upgrade to Windows 7E work, so you don't get IE preinstalled, Microsoft would have to scrub the registry of all references to IE 7 or 8 (depending on what the Vista machine had on it at the time of the upgrade), as well as removing any and all add-ons (Acrobat reader plug-in, Java plug-in, Flash, etc...). Instead of a nice, simple installation process, the installer would have to become a Registry Cleaner as well. In short - it would be more of a pain in various body parts than it's worth.Note: For XP users, it wouldn't have made any real difference given there's no direct upgrade path from XP to Windows 7.You'd have to do a clean install anyhow. And so, it's far easier to just NOT sell upgrade versions to Win 7E. So feel free to thank the folks at Opera...

..... or microsoft for their anti-competitive behaviour, but that's neither here nor there.thanks for the reply, but my problem is, win7 home is $49 from newegg, and 49 from amazon UK. this is a rip off since $1 does not = 1 i wont be paying more than someone else for win7, so i will stick to the RC until the price drops to US pricing (basically 31) or i can buy it from the US via ebay as i did vista ultimate. failing that, i can always stick with vista. microsofts problems with the EU are not my problem, it's of their own making.

You would be extremely foolish to wait for the price to drop, because it's not going to happen!49 is an excellent price, DOS 5 or 6 cost that much!

it's the principle. why should i pay more than someone in the US for the same product? scratch that, it's not the same product. if i have a crash and have to reinstall, i cant even go online since there is no browser there. it's an inferior product and yet costs 50% more! not a chance am i buying it.

Tommo - Uh.. You DO realize that the $49 US upgrade is NOT the same product you'd be getting for the 49 in the UK... Right?The $49 upgrade - is an UPGRADE only. It must be installed on top of another valid OS. The 49 copy of Win 7E is a FULL retail copy. You can install it anywhere, any how.. No previous OS required. Bare metal drives are welcome. Should your computer die, you can still install it on another machine. So what you're getting is a FULL RETAIL copy of Windows 7E for about $79.50 (current exchange rates).Given the full product will retail somewhere in the vicinity of $225.00 USD, I'd say that was a pretty darn good deal.

it's the principle. why should i pay more than someone in the US for the same product? scratch that, it's not the same product. if i have a crash and have to reinstall, i cant even go online since there is no browser there. it's an inferior product and yet costs 50% more! not a chance am i buying it. Tommo - See my last reply... As far as not having a browser goes - How hard is it to download your favorite browser and stick it on a CD or on a USB thumb drive should some disaster happen? Most don't take up that much space - maybe 10 - 20 MB.. Seems to me like that would be a perfect use for one of those now fairly obsolete 256 MB USB drives that now seem quite useless because of their dinky size.

i have a copy of another valid OS so don't need a full copy. an upgrade is fine, hence my asking about an upgrade in my OP. what it comes down to (for me) is that i want an upgrade copy. if i was in the US, i could get the $49 upgrade and be done. since that isn't an option i would have to pay 50% more and get a lesser product. it doesn't matter that it's a FULL copy. there is a lack of choice and that means i have to pay more. if i can get it cheaper on ebay or something in a few months time, then fine but i refuse to support these practises of charging someone more in one region than another. case in point, dvds, blu ray etc. i have never purchased a blu ray disk from the UK and only a handful of dvds (and that was before i saw how cheap they were in canada and australia). since then i import. same deal.

You "refuse to support these practises of charging someone more in one region than another". MS Office Home&Student is sold at Microsoft Store (U.S.) by$149.95, at Microsoft Store (UK) by 97,86. That price seems way too low, following your sense of justice.Mobile AMD64 3000+, VIA Apollo K8T800 chipset, 1 G RAM, ATIRadeonMobility 9700, 20x DVDRW, C:XPSP3 (55G),D:WIN7 (25G),F:DATA (250G)

according to xe.com. 97.86 is $158. still a little cheaper than the UK version. that doesnt matter to me though since i use open office not MS office.