There’s been a great deal of talk in the last week about the Windows 7 “E” editions that will be released across Europe sans Internet Explorer to satisfy the European Union. I have to say the quality of the coverage has so far left me feeling very disappointed. So here’s what those journalists ‘should’ have been telling you.
At the moment, there’s very little information on these E editions except to say that this is far from a done deal. This is a proposal that Microsoft may or may not put to the EU and it will NOT replace the standard editions of Windows 7 in Europe. It will instead be sold along-side them.
You will remember Microsoft sold “N” editions of Vista and, while exact sales figures are nigh on impossible to find, it can be safely assumed that they sold at least 9 copies. We can assume that the “E” editions might, comparatively, sell about 8. 
I can’t say what it’s been like in the rest of Europe, but for the years since Vista was released I have never seen a single PC manufacturer offering machines with the “N” edition installed here in the UK, not even as an option.
Frankly, the people who have been saying that “this will be the edition for Europe” are scaremongering. However a little fact for you, Microsoft have said that this edition, if it even goes ahead, WILL have an easy download link for Internet Explorer (and we can assume other browsers too). This will probably come in the same form as the anti-virus download options in the Action Centre.
