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that sure is a hell of a lot of versions

Why is there any need for both K and KN editions anymore? Since Vista, Windows hasn't included an IM client...

Don't forget that you also have install images for x86 and x64, and then the actual SKU's for different language versions, as well as 1, 3, 10, and 30 packs for OEM System Builders.

Paul, I read somewhere that all Korean versions sold are KN now.

"Why is there any need for both K and KN editions anymore? Since Vista, Windows hasn't included an IM client..."

The N versions are for "No media playback", as in no Windows Media Player included.

Quick question:

Are Enterprise versions going to be on separate media, like they are with Vista?

What was the reasoning behind doing that anyway?  Is it because the installer wouldn't adapt to volume license keys?  I know that retail full versions and generic OEM System Builder versions are the same, in that they'll accept either type of key.  Retail upgrades have different media, as did Enterprise.

Now that Enterprise and Ultimate are on par with each other, would it make sense for them to include both on the same media, or do they still have different installer runtimes to accomodate for different keys as described above?

Welcome to the world of visible tarriffs. (Where before it was more invisible and you just paid more)

Of course, all these variations are pretty much irrelevant to anyone not buying software for a small business with offices in multiple countries. Most multinationals are big enough to be working off a license agreement anyway it doesn't matter to them. And pretty much everybody else only sees the versions allowed by their government to protect their local, non-competitive products from actual competition.

Why would they have an 'E' version of Home Basic?

I guess if a country wants to feel special, it can try and force MS to create a version specific to it. Maybe Mexico should ask for an 'M' version without Notepad. Just sayin'.

The N this time around means that no Internet Explorer 8 is installed, due to the EU regulation Microsoft has chosen to comply by removing Internet Explorer 8 from the media.

It will be up to the OEM manufactorer, or the customers themselves to install a browser.

I wonder if the EU realize that they are the laughing stock of the technological world for their inability to promote their own businesses that they have to instead drag others down...

GoodThings2Life

I suspect the EU commissioners don't care.

@TormDK:

You're thinking of the E version.  The E version doesn't have either IE, or Media Player (starting with Windows 7 - Vista had IE though).  It would normally be called EN, but that's confusing (it's the abbrev. used for English).

So far, Microsoft has stated that the E version won't ship with a media player, thereby consolidating the N version into the same product SKU.

They've also stated the same for the KN version of Windows 7 - there won't be separate K and KN versions.

Why they have differing licensing terms is probably just part of the RC and not official until RTM.

So unless there are other nations that want an N version without Windows Media Player (I don't know of any other than those in the EU), I don't expect it'll go beyond the standard version, the E version, and the K version.

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Hahaha how lame. They get worse and worse. OS X comes in 1 edition for home users. 1!!! Not 28!

These are all essentially Windows 7 Sucker Edition. Which you'll all buy.

@roberstjoe

"Hahaha how lame. They get worse and worse. OS X comes in 1 edition for home users. 1!!! Not 28!"

Since OS X is essentially Windows Vista/7 Home Premium, it's not appropriate to compare Windows Vista/7 versions to OS X.

With ~1.2 billion Windows users around the world, it is essential that there are versions of Windows, which are suitable for the many different types of users there are.

If you wanted to get really crazy, you could also include the many versions of Windows for devices - embedded, CE, XP Embedded, etc...

No "one" Windows works well for all people. Just as no one, or a few device forms work for all people.

The same is true of software and the stacks people/professionals and their companies use - they are all quite unique.

Windows, as a platform and the ecosystem around it are clear evidence as to how obviously true this is.

So many different needs, all supported by one "platform" accounts for why Windows is successful and installed on such a large percentage of computers. For the same reasons, only in reverse, is why there are so few Apple computers deployed relative to Windows PCs. It is not to say that for 3 or so percent of current computer users, that Apple does not provide products that work for that group of people - obviously it does. However, that small number of users surely commands what seems to me to be a disproportionate share of voice.

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Paul, is that SKU comparison absolutely accurate? I think Home Premium doesn't have Fax & Scan and while it has Shadow Copy, it doesn't have Previous Versions. It also lacks Group Policy. Can you verify by actually installing Home Premium instead of the licensing utility? (If indeed it is accurate, then I'm happy to say Microsoft has got most of the feature distribution across SKUs correct with Windows 7).

Waethorn

O\T Thanks for the heads up re requiring a vista disk + sp1 per your instructions. You are correct the sysprep image has changed in SP1. I will certainly find this info useful for my work in the future.

lketchum,

Effectively, the Windows ecosystem provides a huge range of soutions that share both development and management models from embedded controllers to laptops and desktops to servers to clustered supercomputers.

Mac OS X, on the other hand, shares the same problems as Macintosh hardware - a lack of flexibility of choices. In the same way that Macintosh is only a reasonable choice if you need precisely one of the limited choices of hardware Apple offers, Mac OS X is only a good fit if your needs fit one of their two choices of operating system products.

It's the difference between selecting a choice to fit your needs versus constraining your solution to match your limited choices.

Thus one of the reasons for the 3.5M:1,200M installed base ratio.

Oops

That should be 35M:1,200M installed base ratio.

or a 34 to 1 ratio

"That should be 35M:1,200M installed base ratio."

You mean 75M:1,200M, don't you?

shark

No. Not really.