Windows 7 To Sell In UK For Half the US Price

An anonymous reader writes "In the UK, a full version of Windows 7 Home Premium is going to cost less than half the price Americans will have to pay, and in fact less than Americans have to pay just for the upgrade-only edition. Full details and prices were published in an article on CNet, in which it was concluded that, at least for the time being, Microsoft is honoring the prices it set for the now-discontinued European version of Win7, which did not contain Internet Explorer 8 and was only available as a full-install edition."

Comments

So,

[Philip K Dickhead]

Do Yanks start ordering from amazon.co.uk?

Re:So,

[olsmeister]

Nope, we can't use the UK version. The mouse buttons are reversed from the way they are here in the States.

Re:So,

[Dachannien]

I thought Australian meeses had their buttons on the bottom.

Re:So,

[Anonymous Coward]

The UK version will also only run off of 240V. Unless you plug your computer into your stove outlet in the kitchen or rewire your house, you can't use the UK version in the USA.

Nicholas Wirth

[craznar]

This reminds me of a story once told by Nicholas Wirth:

When he was in Europe - they called him 'Nicholas Wirth', the correct pronunciation.
When he was in USA - they called him 'Nickles Worth', the incorrect pronunciation.

He inferred this was because whilst in Europe they called him by name, when in USA they called him by value.

Well Microsoft seems to have definitely reversed that with this decision.

Just checking...

[Dan East]

Y'all know that £20 isn't really half as much spending power as $40, right?

An open letter to Windows marketing team

[rennerik]

Dear Microsoft,

I read recently that you have decided to cut Windows 7's price in the UK to about half of what it is here in the US. I don't feel that it does justice to us here in the States, as we're actually getting less value than your UK market.

Take, for example, all the U's that have been dropped from words. My color is not colour, but yet, I have to pay more for the lack of the U. This is unfair. Has the cost of cutting U's from words taken a sharp climb?

Perhaps the letter Z is charging too much these days, and I know how that can be. It only makes sparse appearances in words such as localize and marginalize, but despite its rare occurrence, it, much like a has-been movie star, has the gall to demand top billing. Perhaps your royalties payable to this (not)under-appreciated letter raise the costs here in the US.

Whatever the reasoning, I still find it unfair, and being such a large and powerful corporation, the fact that you can be taken advantage of like this is not only sad, but reprehensible. Use those lawyers of yours and get back at them! Hey, you can even be on the winning end of an anti-trust suit... think of the headlines now: "'Z' Loses Anti-Trust Judgement Thanks to Microsoft". Won't that be good press?

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

PS - This message has been brought to you by the letter 5.

Re:An open letter to Windows marketing team

[Fluffeh]

Dear Citizen,

We here at Microsoft take the utmost care when faced with queries such as yours.

It is a little misunderstanding. While it is true that you aren't getting your full from the vowel U in the American version, we are including the other vowels I&E in it, which do actually not come packaged with the European version.

I hope you find these two shiny vowels as valuable as we thought you would, and now understand the extra cost of the American version of the product.

Sincerely,
A Helpful Customer Servicer

PS. This message has been brought to you by the number $107.

Re:Arbitrage

[langelgjm]

It relies on advanced authentication mechanism that involves the (potential) user spelling several words: honour, colour, etc. If the user misses any "u", it refuses to activate.

Re:So will it be region locked?

[Sponge Bath]

"There are alternatives."

Arrrr, that thar be matey!

Re:So will it be region locked?

[lenehey]

it's also Not A Viable Option. Really, they should call it "WINAVO"