The discounted preorder period for Windows 7E starts today. As you probably know, Windows 7E is slightly different from Windows 7 around the world. The purpose of this FAQ is to make sure you are well-informed on what is different about Windows 7E, and any preorder questions you may have. Good luck on your preorder purchase!

Why should I preorder Windows 7E now?
Starting from July 15th to August 14th (August 9th in the UK), retailers will be offering discounted preorders of Windows 7E of up to 65%. There is no better time to purchase Windows 7 than now.

How much do I save?
This chart compares the prices between a preorder and a retail purchase.

Windows 7E Price Comparison (Euros)

Windows 7E Price Comparison (Pounds)

What do I get when I preorder Windows 7 now?
All vendors in Europe and the UK will only be selling the full edition of Windows 7E. They will not include Internet Explorer 8.

How am I supposed to visit websites without a browser?
Germany: Amazon Germany’s website is stating that you can add Internet Explorer 8 to the shopping cart along with Windows 7E before checkout.

The rest of Europe: Microsoft’s official announcement is that Internet Explorer 8 will be offered via the Microsoft Download Center shortly after Windows 7E’s release. However,earlier rumors suggest that Microsoft will be offering a feature pack. The feature pack is in the form of an .iso, which suggests that customers will have the option to include an Internet Explorer 8 CD along with their purchase.

Why is there no upgrade edition of Windows 7E?
Due to concerns raised by EU antitrust regulators, Microsoft have decided to remove the bundling of IE8 with Windows 7E. Any sort of upgrade installation would mean that IE8 code would be carried over to Windows 7. Microsoft does not want this.

Will there be an upgrade edition later?
Microsoft has yet to make any announcement but they have stated the possibility of an Upgrade Edition coming to Europe sometime after December 31, 2010.

Home Premium or Professional?

For most consumers, Home Premium will be enough. Unlike with Vista, each higher SKU will contain all the features of the SKU before it. This means that Windows 7 Professional will contain all of Home Premium’s features plus more.

Here is the complete list of features absent from Home Premium but are included in Professional:

• Automatic Backups and Backup to a Network Location
• Remote Desktop Host: Allow you to host remote desktop connections
• Presentation Mode: Allow you to control the machine’s behaviour while giving presentations
• Windows Server Domain Joining: Allows you to easily and securely join domains
• Windows XP Mode: This allows you to run Windows XP apps in a virtual environment, but on the same desktop as Windows 7. Check out our giant screenshot tour, and this post for more information.

You might want to consider Professional over Home Premium if you…

• prefer to backup to a network location
• encrypt your files
• need to move back and forth between different networks (home and office)
• need support for Windows XP-compatible apps that don’t work in Windows 7

You can visit Microsoft’s site for a comparison chart between Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.

Can I perform a Clean Install?
Yes.

Can I perform an Upgrade Installation?
No.

Who can preorder?
Only the UK, France, and Germany were announced to have this special preorder promotion.

Why preorder now?
Microsoft originally stated that preorders are only available in limited quantities. Preorder at the discounted rate before it’s too late.

What if I want to buy a computer/laptop now? Will I be eligible for a Windows 7 upgrade?
That depends on the retailer. A couple of retailers in the US such as Dell, HP, Acer, and Asus are running Windows 7 Upgrade offers that allow you to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 at little or no cost. Details vary depending on the retailer. However, the upgrade paths will always remain the same. There are three upgrade paths available:

• Windows Vista Home Premium Edition -> Windows 7 Home Premium Edition
• Windows Vista Business Edition -> Windows 7 Professional Edition
• Windows Vista Ultimate Edition -> Windows 7 Ultimate Edition

I want to preorder. Where can I get it?
Here are a couple of Amazon links for you to acquire Windows 7E. If you know of other retailers, please let us know in the comments.

UK

• Windows 7E Home Premium
• Windows 7E Professional
• Windows 7E Ultimate

Play.com

Comet

Currys

Ebuyer

Microsoft Store

Anvika

PcWorld

Staples

Amazon France (Limit 1 per customer)
Windows 7E Preorder in France

Amazon Germany Starts July 15th 9:00 CET

Windows 7E Germany Preorder (only Home Premium available)

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. Read the rest at windows7center.com.