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A browser-free Windows 7

 

Rory Cellan-Jones | 14:45 PM, Thursday, 25 June 2009

 

Microsoft has just issued a press release and blog about the pricing of Windows 7 when it arrives on 22 October, which is so complex and so full of PR guff that I would have chucked it straight into my virtual bin, if I hadn't had a briefing from the company earlier today.

 

windows595.jpg

 

Luckily, during that telephone call with John Curran, Windows business lead, Microsoft UK, a story did emerge. And it's this - European consumers will be offered a browser-free Windows at a decent price to satisfy those fussy folks at the European Commission. The trouble is, that's unlikely to please either Brussels or consumers.

 

Microsoft is in the middle of another epic battle during its long war with the European Commission over the alleged abuse of its monopoly position. This time the issue is the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows, the subject of complaints from rival browser makers.

 

Earlier this month Microsoft came up with a ploy it thought might satisfy the Commission, promising that Windows 7 would be released in Europe without any browser.

 

Today we learned that this would mean that European users who wanted to upgrade would have to install the full version - if they'd been offered the simpler upgrade, that would have simply imported their existing browser, almost certainly Internet Explorer, into their new setup.

 

But Microsoft says it's giving European users that full version for the same price that it would normally charge for an upgrade - £79.99 in the UK.

 

But here's the problem. You upgrade from XP or Vista to Windows 7, and then find you've got no browser. No problem, I hear you say, you just go and download one - say Firefox, or Chrome, or Safari or maybe Internet Explorer 8. Using your browser. Ahh...right.

 

Microsoft told me "we will have some answers" to this issue, but admitted there were "challenges and complexities" involved. But the company pointed out to me that the vast majority of Windows 7 users were likely to be people buying new computers, and the manufacturers were likely to pre-install a browser on those machines.

 

So what will the likes of Dell, Toshiba, HP or Lenovo choose to install? Internet Explorer 8, perhaps?

 

John Curran from Microsoft said the whole aim of the European version of Windows 7 was to make sure that the company was "in full compliance with EU law." I rang a man in Brussels to ask whether the European Commission was impressed by Microsoft's behaviour.

 

The sound of loud harrumphing came whistling down the line. "For them to claim they're doing this in order to comply with European law is just nonsense," he told me, although he used a slightly stronger term than nonsense.

 

He explained that Brussels had suggested an alternative approach, whereby consumers were offered a "ballot screen" when they first turned on a Windows 7 computer, allowing them to choose from a menu of different browsers.

 

And he pointed out that if the whole business ends up with Microsoft somehow persuading manufacturers to install Internet Explorer on their machines, then consumers will be no better off.

 

Microsoft believes it's offering European consumers a compelling product while satisfying the concerns of the regulators. But the next move will come from Brussels - and it looks likely that Microsoft will be ordered to offer not a browser-free Windows 7 but one with a full menu of choices.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009..._windows_7.html

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Windows 7 pricing gets unveiled

_45970967_seven-getty226.jpg.jpg

Europeans will get a full version of Windows 7 at upgrade prices

 

Microsoft will not be offering upgrade version of Windows 7 to Europeans.

 

In the past Microsoft has given people already using Windows a chance to upgrade to a new version when it becomes available.

 

While that option will be offered in the US, Microsoft said its efforts to comply with competition regulations meant it could not do so in Europe.

 

European regulators dismissed the claim, saying the move limited choices rather than opening them up.

 

No choice

 

Windows 7 is due to go on sale on 22 October around the world.

 

Anyone outside Europe buying a new PC between now and then - running Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate - will get the chance to upgrade the operating system on it, at no cost, to Windows 7.

 

While Microsoft will not charge for the upgrade, some PC makers may impose a fee to ship disks with Windows 7 on them to customers.

 

The worldwide upgrade option programme is due to begin on 26 June.

 

 

Microsoft says it's giving European users that full version for the same price that it would normally charge for an upgrade

Rory Cellan-Jones

BBC's technology correspondent

 

Read Rory's thoughts in full

 

Those who want to upgrade to Windows 7 on a older PC will pay a reduced price for the software. Stand alone versions of Windows 7, that can run on more than one PC, will also be available.

 

Microsoft said these upgrade options will not be available to Europeans.

 

"We will not be able to offer an upgrade product within Europe," said John Curran, Windows business lead at Microsoft UK, adding that only the full version of the software will be available to Europeans.

 

Microsoft will make an upgrade offer to buyers of new PCs but will send them a full version of the software rather than an upgrade version.

 

In Europe, the full version will cost the same as an upgrade version.

 

In the UK the upgrade version of the Home Premium edition of Windows 7, available to those with an existing Windows license, will be £79.99.

 

By contrast buying this in a shop, and which can be installed on more than one machine, will cost £149.99.

 

The upgrade option was not available, Microsoft said, because it was trying to comply with European competition regulations.

 

Microsoft has said that Windows 7 will be offered in Europe without the Internet Explorer browser on board.

 

A Commission spokesman dismissed Microsoft's claim that it was taking the action to comply with European laws.

 

"The essential point of our case is consumer choice," said the spokesman.

 

"We would want to look extremely closely at the terms under which Microsoft is making Internet Explorer available to computer manufacturers," he said.

 

"If the effect of the technical separation of Windows and Internet Explorer is neutralised by particular terms and conditions they offer to manufacturers to install Internet Explorer, they're no better off."

 

The preferred remedy for Europe, he said, was to offer users a screen when they first switch on Windows 7 that gives them a choice between IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera.

 

"For them to claim that this is somehow imposed by the Commission or is going to resolve the problem with the Commission is far from clear," he said.

 

"It's certainly not because we've asked them to do it."

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8118749.stm

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Ban all MS products from Europe and be done with it. Let's see them get oot of that. :aye:

 

 

They'd probably declare war on the Eurp Linux loving commies then though :) (ignoring the fact that actually most everyone would still be using WinXP) :rolleyes:

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  • 4 weeks later...

Stuck RC1 on a Dell machine I grabbed from work and the bastard thing won't connect to my network! Spent all night Googling but found nothing of any use, lots of people have reported similar problems (with Vista too apparently).

 

The O/S sees the network card but just doesn't want to connect. I've tried giving it a static IP too but still nothing. :D

 

Anyone else come across this issue (and managed to fix it)?

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try uninstalling the network card in device management then reboot.

 

windows will then detect the card and install it.

 

 

you could also try doing a windows update to see if theres any drivers to download - and also check the manufacturers website for the same

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Anyone seen the pre-order prices for Windows 7?

 

I've just paid for an OS for the very first time, only £44.99 from PC World. Bargain.

 

Got the RC1 on my PC at the minute and it's running like a dream

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Anyone seen the pre-order prices for Windows 7?

 

I've just paid for an OS for the very first time, only £44.99 from PC World. Bargain.

 

Got the RC1 on my PC at the minute and it's running like a dream

 

Yeah it's around £50 for the home and £100 for the professional IIRC. Has anyone seen a breakdown of what the differences are between the two versions?

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Remember theres no browser with this folks

 

That's very true... make sure you have either IE8, Firefox 3 or equivalent installation file on a USB stick or CD-R somewhere before you go installing it :rolleyes:

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I'm going to build a new fuck off PC next month - I've been sort of waiting for what I'd heard about Windows 7 to be confirmed and for them to approach commercial release.

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try uninstalling the network card in device management then reboot.

 

windows will then detect the card and install it.

 

 

you could also try doing a windows update to see if theres any drivers to download - and also check the manufacturers website for the same

 

Already tried the first one Laz, uninstalled it and let Windows install it, then tried installed the Dell specific drivers, then the Broadcom drivers, then uninstalled it again. Unfortunately, neither Dell or Broadcom do a specific Windows 7 driver.

 

The second option's a non starter as I can't get online to use Windows Update.

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Anyone seen the pre-order prices for Windows 7?

 

I've just paid for an OS for the very first time, only £44.99 from PC World. Bargain.

 

Got the RC1 on my PC at the minute and it's running like a dream

 

 

How are they doing it this time?

 

Is that a full upgrade? A once only upgrade? The full licence?

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try uninstalling the network card in device management then reboot.

 

windows will then detect the card and install it.

 

 

you could also try doing a windows update to see if theres any drivers to download - and also check the manufacturers website for the same

 

Already tried the first one Laz, uninstalled it and let Windows install it, then tried installed the Dell specific drivers, then the Broadcom drivers, then uninstalled it again. Unfortunately, neither Dell or Broadcom do a specific Windows 7 driver.

 

The second option's a non starter as I can't get online to use Windows Update.

 

Do you have any vista drivers? if so - try them in each of the compatability modes.

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try uninstalling the network card in device management then reboot.

 

windows will then detect the card and install it.

 

 

you could also try doing a windows update to see if theres any drivers to download - and also check the manufacturers website for the same

 

Already tried the first one Laz, uninstalled it and let Windows install it, then tried installed the Dell specific drivers, then the Broadcom drivers, then uninstalled it again. Unfortunately, neither Dell or Broadcom do a specific Windows 7 driver.

 

The second option's a non starter as I can't get online to use Windows Update.

 

Do you have any vista drivers? if so - try them in each of the compatability modes.

 

Manage to get it sorted. Basically I was being a twat and instead of trying the simple things (like bypassing my ZyXel homeplug adapters!) I was looking for the complex solution.

 

Cheers for the help anyway Laz.

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Anyone seen the pre-order prices for Windows 7?

 

I've just paid for an OS for the very first time, only £44.99 from PC World. Bargain.

 

Got the RC1 on my PC at the minute and it's running like a dream

 

 

How are they doing it this time?

 

Is that a full upgrade? A once only upgrade? The full licence?

 

Full licence. Both 32 and 64 bit versions.

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Anyone seen the pre-order prices for Windows 7?

 

I've just paid for an OS for the very first time, only £44.99 from PC World. Bargain.

 

Got the RC1 on my PC at the minute and it's running like a dream

 

 

How are they doing it this time?

 

Is that a full upgrade? A once only upgrade? The full licence?

 

Full licence. Both 32 and 64 bit versions.

 

 

Seems they have learnt their lesson on pricing, then. Decent move by MS.

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  • 2 months later...
Data losses in Snow Leopard bug

 

Users of the new Apple operating system Snow Leopard are experiencing massive data losses when logging into their machines under a guest account.

 

The problem appears to affect those who had a guest account enabled before upgrading to Snow Leopard.

 

Users have in some cases lost their entire main profile, including sites, pictures, videos and documents.

 

The problem, reported by more than 100 users on discussion forums, surfaced shortly after the OS's August release.

 

The issue follows closely on the heels of vast data losses by the Sidekick handset in the US, whose software was designed by Microsoft subsidiary Danger.

 

Unwelcome guest

 

Indications are that the Snow Leopard bug simply treats the principal account like a guest account - meaning that the account profile is wiped clean when logging out.

 

Users who first log into a guest account and then into their normal account have found it to be completely reset to factory default settings, with none of their personal data or files visible.

 

"I've been using Macs for decades...what the heck have I done here?" wrote user Wingrove on the Apple discussion forums on Monday.

 

"Repeated restarts and logins never get me back to me usual user acc(ount)."

 

Those who use backup services including the Mac's own Time Machine can restore their lost data, but it appears that for those who do not, the data is permanently lost.

 

Apple said in a statement that the problem "occurs only in extremely rare cases" and that it was working on a fix.

 

In the meantime, users should delete previous guest accounts and, where necessary, create new ones that are "native" to Snow Leopard.

 

Can you imagine the outcry if this was Microsoft?

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