Windows 7 pre-orders big in Europe
Microsoft's European online store was apparently taken down by the amount of demand for a Windows 7 pre-order program that just kicked off there. A similar promotion in the U.S. ended July 11.
(Credit: CNET)A discounted offer for Windows 7 appears to be selling out quickly in Europe.
In addition to an apparent sellout at some Amazon sites and at spots in Germany, Microsoft's European online store was apparently overwhelmed by demand, meaning that those who turned up to buy the software were instead greeted with a multilingual error message.
"Due to the eagerly anticipated Windows 7 pre-order offer we're experiencing a higher level of demand on our website than usual," Microsoft said in the English-language posting. "This means you can't access the site right now and we're sorry about that. We'll be back up and running as soon as we can so please try again soon to get your hands on a copy of Windows 7!"
The European pre-order deal, which offers roughly half off the cost of Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional is slated to run from July 15 through August 9, although Microsoft is capping the number of copies that can be ordered. A similar pre-order offer in the U.S. ended July 11, although supply appeared to be ample here for those who wanted it.
Microsoft hasn't said how many discounted Windows 7 pre-orders it is willing to offer either in total, or in any particular region. In Germany and France, Microsoft is selling pre-orders of Home Premium "E" edition at 49.99 euros ($70.59) , with Windows 7 "E" Professional selling for 109.99 euros ($155.31). In Britain, the Home Premium version is selling for 49.99 British pounds ($82.10), while Professional edition is priced at 99.99 pounds ($164.21).
Things are a little different in Europe given that Microsoft is selling the operating system without a browser there. As a result, for now Microsoft is not offering an "upgrade" version of Windows 7 "E" but is instead selling the full boxed version (which does not require a prior Windows installation) at the upgrade price.
All users will also have to do a clean installation, even if they are upgrading from Windows Vista, as well as getting a copy of their browser of choice. Microsoft will offer copies of Internet Explorer, combined with Windows Live programs, on a separate disc for those who want it.
Microsoft didn't comment directly on the sellouts, but said in a statement that it and its partners "are excited with the great response from U.S. and international consumers for the Windows 7 pre-order discount program."
"We will continue to work with our partners and expect to have other great offers in the future as we lead up to and beyond general availability," Microsoft said.
The software maker said it is "looking into the status" of its European online store.
Microsoft is due to finalize Windows 7 any day now, with the product scheduled to land on store shelves and new PCs on October 22.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Come with your negativity, its just gonna make your platform Lunix look even worse.
im for windows all the way and linux doesnt cut it for many people but this is over the top
Don't make such cuts at the competition if you want your own comments taken with any seriousness or respect. Your comments could stand to be a bit more respectable.
Really, perhaps we could just copy and paste from any of the other Windows/Mac/Linux stories? They don't really change all that much except in sort order. Let's save some time and assume all that has been done and try something different and unique.... like actually making useful comments.
What a meaningless article. No stats, no real facts, essentially hollow statements from MSFT marketing. Meh. These are the same folks who endlessly touted the terrific sales of Vista. Sure. Deja vu all over again.
Does the author provide any evidence that the online store outage was caused by an overwhelming number of WIn 7 pre-order requests? No.
Do the words "big" or "sellout" have any substantive meaning absent numeric data? No.
No need to "believe me". Draw your own conclusions.
anyways,r they going to release the nr of those pre-sold copies ending up on ebay and similar sites for profit?i bet 50 % goes there...
Do you site ANY data at all to support your "hollow statements from MSFT marketing" spiel? NO
@ tdstauffer :"Does the author provide any evidence that the online store outage was caused by an overwhelming number of WIn 7 pre-order requests? No"
We already know for a fact that very high traffic at any site, usually results in the site being inaccesible/doing down. The fact that, it happened on the very day Win 7 was available for pre-order is enough reason to conclude that it was traffic from Win 7 pre-orders that took the Microsoft European sites down.
@ tdstauffer :"Do the words "big" or "sellout" have any substantive meaning absent numeric data? No."
Of course.
Certain toysusually sell out at Christmas time all the time, and we know they are sold out before we get any sales numbers, because they are not avlailable in the shops when we try to buy them. We don't need no sales figures to tell us that
@ tdstauffer :"No need to "believe me". Draw your own conclusions"
No need to worry about me believing you at all, cause I DON'T.
This is the normal trolling by the mindless anti-Microsoft bots, who have nothing better to do, but troll Microsoft stories n the web and spew.
Meanwhile, in the real world:
Win 7 is # 1 and # 2 at Amazon UK, and it's not evenproperly available for pre-order yet:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=sv_sw_h__3
At # 1 , at Amazon Germany:
http://www.amazon.de/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=sv_sw_0
And at # 1 and # 2 at Amazon France:
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=sv_sw_1
But hey, just keep on spinning will ya?
The EU bureacrats are idiots. That is true. But expect Microsoft to do an end run around those fat, deskbound Eurocrat clowns, by flooding the retail outlets with tens of millions of free IE8 disks on Win 7 launch day and beyond.
Hey buy Win 7 and get a free IE8 disk at checkout.
You don't wanna buy Win 7? No problem, here have a nice free IE 8 disk anyways with your groceries.
Expect IE8 market share to end up even higher after Win 7 than before Win 7, despite these idiotic Eurocrats.
As for believing Microsoft's "propaganda"... well, every company offers press leases that say "sold out"... especially Apple... so why hold Microsoft to a different standard.
Finally, since Win7 still rules Amazon's sales rankings... that's kind of evidence that there IS demand for the product.
and yes it really shows how ignorant(? not sure if this is the right word) ppl are to have double standards
Win 7 doesn't just rule US Amazon rankings. Win 7 is currently ruling Amazon Europe rankings too:
Win 7 is # 1 and # 2 at Amazon UK, and it's not even fully available for pre-order yet:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=sv_sw_h__3
At # 1 at Amazon Germany:
http://www.amazon.de/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=sv_sw_0
And at # 1 and # 2 at Amazon France:
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=sv_sw_1
Google OS - show the users something that's tangible that's maybe a good option... to be honest, they should have been working on an option and had it ready to be positioned prior to the Windows 7 beta... this is how you can tell that Google is not really serious about competiting against Microsoft. They are serious about trying to secure their search business and putting on a good face for the Open Source community. Business 101 - neutralize the competition by offering a REAL option prior to the launch of your competitors products
Apple - make a low cost PC which does not take a back seat to experience. Either open up your market to allow clones again to break down into the market space or come out with some very cost effective options. No, a Netbook style Apple product will not due the trick. As much as people are hyping up the capabilities of netbooks there is no way on this earth that a person who has an option of spending $500 for a cheap Notebook or $500 for a Netbook are going to pick up a netbook with all it's downfalls (IE - no CD, slow processor, limited HD, limited graphics.) People are buying Notebooks in droves still and replacing their desktops.... besides, outside of it's few Office like addin's Apple isn't exactly burning down the house for it's software / services.
At the end of the day I will say Microsoft is bringing goods to the table and it's the real deal - Windows 7 is the real deal. People complained and they listened.
- by robert1275 July 19, 2009 9:10 AM PDT
- I was lucky. I managed to place the preorder on Amazon in the UK first thing in the morning. Every presale sold out a few hours later for Home Premium and Windows Pro followed a few hours later. Now Amazon is still taking pre-orders but at a much smaller discount
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