Windows 7 pre-orders begin in UK, selling out fast

If you're hoping to get in on discounted pre-order pricing for Windows 7 in the UK then you'd best get to clicking, son. We're hearing that copies of the £50 Windows 7 Home Premium E are already sold-out on Amazon but still available at Play.com, for example. Stocks of Windows 7 Professional E look plentiful at £100, for the time being anyway. While the offer is scheduled to go until August 9th, it's limited to some magical quantity known only to Microsoft and its retailers. If you're still on the fence remember, Japan completely sold-out in just a few days.

Update: Whoa, and now Windows 7 Home Premium E is back on Amazon.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[MS&GoogleFan @ Jul 15th 2009 5:25AM]

Exciting indeed. I do wish the start orb had been nixed though. Brings back bad memories from a bad era.

[wrs589 @ Jul 15th 2009 5:24AM]

So how does this work for Windows 7 RC users who've been told that they can upgrade from RC but need Vista/XP to do a clean install?

Because for the "E" edition you have to do a clean install :/

[wrs589 @ Jul 15th 2009 5:25AM]

And it's not already sold out on Amazon either, infact its £5 cheaper.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Windows-Home-Premium-PC/dp/B002DUCMT2/ref=amb_link_84278153_2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=12QD3VHREHFRCDSVSS22&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470370353&pf_rd_i=468294

[catfud @ Jul 15th 2009 5:34AM]

A clean install is always the better option for a new incarnation of an OS.

[KIFF @ Jul 16th 2009 4:03AM]

There seems to be some confusion regarding whether or not Windows XP and Vista is required due to Amazon UK's system requirement. Do not worry, according to Amazon's FAQ, all Windows 7 E announced so far are the full version meaning you do not need any previous version of Windows.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_84366393_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000321063&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=right-2&pf_rd_r=1C21XQM6CCB6FZV8TD13&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470391453&pf_rd_i=248293031&tag=thinkfirst-21

[GadgetGeek @ Jul 16th 2009 3:55PM]

Clean installs are better period.. but I'm not sold on 7 yet. I think Microsoft reached it's peak with XP. I'd rather have better hardware that runs insanely fast on xp than move over to a system that needs a DVD to install the OS. I like my OS lightweight...

[catfud @ Jul 15th 2009 5:27AM]

Bought 2 copies of the home premium, for £44.97 from Amazon, at 1pm this morning
*yawn*
Blooming bargain though :)

[catfud @ Jul 15th 2009 5:31AM]

for £44.97 each ofc.

[catfud @ Jul 15th 2009 6:04AM]

and 1am ofc
sheesh...need a coffee

[Pre-determined @ Jul 15th 2009 5:28AM]

Win 7 (and WinMo 6.5)... next quarter will be good for Windows fans. Got my pre-order and simply waiting on the Touch Pro2 for my Sprint service (currently out-of-contract :)

happy happy joy joy - Stimpy

[thebomberman @ Jul 15th 2009 5:31AM]

Got mine (Amazon), but a couple of work colleagues found Amazon and eBuyer sold out :O Play seem OK though

[Joshua @ Jul 15th 2009 5:37AM]

Microsoft Store Europe is down at the moment.

http://emea.microsoftstore.com/uk/

[Andrew @ Jul 15th 2009 5:41AM]

Just picked up 3 copies of home premium from Amazon

But I don't get it, why would the limit the stock?

[Melmation @ Jul 15th 2009 6:03AM]

I pre-ordered mine there now.

I work on a mac, but I do have a PC (I came from PC's) and I am just fed up of having to use unstable versions of Microsoft anything so I'm really excited about getting my own W7 for under £50 with hopefully no more hassle.

Wow. I haven't owned my own copy of a Microsoft Operating System since Windows 98 back in 2000.

Feels kind of weird.

Hello Microsoft

[Ramzi @ Jul 15th 2009 5:59AM]

£45 is a bargain - I just snapped it up at 11.03am UK time from Amazon.

[Chris @ Jul 15th 2009 6:14AM]

Just a question,
what will the price be after this "Special Pre Order"?
My RC copy of WIndows 7 only starts shutting down in March 2010,
so i might as well wait till then and buy a new laptop?
Can you imagine using Windows 7 on a netbook of the future. Slightly more enjoyable.

What is the current price of Vista Home Premium?

[404 @ Jul 15th 2009 10:37AM]

Vista Home Premium with a Windows 7 Upgrade voucher can be found for about £100, maybe cheaper if you look around a bit. Amazon says that the Windows 7 Home Premium normal price is ~£150, so being able to get it now for about £45 is a pretty good deal to put it one way. You're probably never going to get it much cheaper, not while it's a current OS.

If you're buying a new laptop anyway and you don't need a copy for a desktop then there's probably not much point in pre-ordering it, just get it pre-installed on a laptop. You could always buy a pre-order AND the laptop, refuse to agree to the MS EULA on the laptop version and demand a refund for the OS, but the few people that have done it have had major hassle for it, and it might not work out much cheaper.

You're probably best just waiting IMO.

[Ethan @ Jul 15th 2009 6:15AM]

I'm running in for this too, and it's a great deal, but that's not necessarily why I'm in a hurry to get it, and neither is Windows 7... ;)

[Johannes @ Jul 15th 2009 6:55AM]

You're a mystrious one, arent cha?

[dhytspam @ Jul 15th 2009 6:41AM]

Got 2 copies of Pro from Amazon at 12:30am. When I did the search it was available, after clicking it had no buy/pre-order, kept refreshing before it came up with more :P

I've read on some forums that Ebuyer even had Pro for £80 until being snapped up quick. Wish I'd looked around more before going with Amazon. But at £89 that's a deal IMO

[thebomberman @ Jul 15th 2009 6:42AM]

Amazon seemed the cheapest for Home Prem at £44.99 that I saw.

[jp @ Jul 15th 2009 6:44AM]

I picked up two copies via ebuyer, and they were listing just 150 copies of Home and 300 of Professional available for preorder .... that seems terribly low, even if you assume their allocations were lower than all the other vendors.

[charlie @ Jul 15th 2009 6:48AM]

I'm a student and therefore have made the most of Microsoft's pretty good student deals such as 'the ultimate steal' which provides the full Office package for £40. Does anyone think that Windows 7 might be included in a similar deal or should I order now while it's a bit cheaper than it will be later on?

[paul34 @ Jul 15th 2009 11:27PM]

It is possible but probably only later, I think. Are you a student in a university? In many American universities, there are special deals made where active students can download and use a fully legit copy of several piece of Microsoft software for 100% free.

My Vista Business that I run now is 100% legit, and 100% free, obtained via what they call "MSDN Academic Alliance." It sure beats having to constantly dodge authentication requests with "less than legit" versions of Windows.

[StephenD @ Jul 15th 2009 6:49AM]

Why are the Amazon screen-shots full of Internet Explorer (the one thing missing from the E edition)? False advertising if you ask me...

[Daviesifier @ Jul 15th 2009 6:49AM]

Just ordered a copy of Home Premium. Wasn't planning on getting a copy (I use Mac), but at that price i just thought I'd may as well! I wouldn't have paid full price though.

I got it from PC World, £44.99 + postage, so ended up just shy of £50.

[Kelmon @ Jul 15th 2009 7:02AM]

Well, nuts. I managed to order a copy of the Professional edition from Amazon to run as a Virtual Machine under Parallels Desktop (words cannot express how much I want to see the back of Windows XP) but I then decided to order a copy of Home edition and discovered that Amazon had sold out already. You could still order via some of the other stores but none of the others will accept delivery to a non-UK address.

Hopefully stock will come back on Amazon and I can have another bash. At that price you can't go far wrong and 2 licenses might ensure that I don't have issues with Activation.

[Kelmon @ Jul 15th 2009 8:05AM]

Ah, it seems that the stock situation at Amazon fluctuates wildly - stock of the Home edition just appeared again so I was able to place an order for that as well. Fingers crossed that it all gets sent correctly.

To be honest, I'm not much bothered about getting the software on the day of release but simply want to ensure that I get my copy for the Microsoft equivalent of peanuts.

[tinton @ Jul 15th 2009 7:28AM]

Does anyone know when will windows 7 be shipped if i pre-order?

[3686 @ Jul 15th 2009 10:23AM]

Depends who you bought it from... if you got it from Amazon or online it should say the pre-order for delivery/shipment on .

[wes @ Jul 15th 2009 7:36AM]

Didn't I see somewhere that you got 2 (maybe 3) licenses with each purchase? Or have I not left cloud cuckoo land?

[Steve @ Jul 15th 2009 7:58AM]

it ships 22nd of octoer

[Steve @ Jul 15th 2009 7:59AM]

wes: there is a family pack coming out which allows three installs i think its like £150 tho and i dont think its part of the preorder(before u say 150 is just price of 3 normal copies)

[Charo @ Jul 16th 2009 5:46PM]

Just ordered mine too. was sold out but luckily my cookies had saved my basket from earlier this morning when
I added it to my trolly :) Seems to have gone through fine LOL

[alexander.williamson @ Jul 15th 2009 8:44AM]

Bought 1 copy of professional just because it'll be cheaper to upgrade to Ultimate eventually. Does Microsoft have the "one licence = one for desktop pc and one for alternate pc (e.g. laptop)" for Windows 7? I heard a rumour somewhere...

[The Escapist @ Jul 15th 2009 12:38PM]

I'd also like to know the answer to this

[TechNewb @ Jul 15th 2009 8:56AM]

LOL. Selling out of software that has not been manufactured. Microsoft is becoming lamer. Although things really have not changed since Windows 1.0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHNNOLnCk Still has that sleazy salesman tactic to it. What makes it different is that the salesman is still in charge. Bring back Gates as CEO please.

"But wait, if you buy before fully integrated driver support you will get a discount, unless you want a fully operational OS, like ultimate, then you will still be overcharged"

[Mark Anderson @ Jul 15th 2009 4:07PM]

Shut up.

[fieldcar @ Jul 15th 2009 11:23AM]

I am really excited about windows 7 and already preordered the day the deal was announced, still a bit disappointed about the requirement for an activated copy of the OS. My main rig has Windows 7 RC on it, and I'd hate to blow that away, and reinstall xp, then 7. Kinda lame, but I think im gonna try finding a fast solution, like making a backup dvd of xp when it's been trimmed down for lighting fast installs of these upgrade versions.

[Jeffrey Fourmile @ Jul 15th 2009 11:33AM]

I wanna do a format and a clean install. Can I do that with this? Thanks.

[thebomberman @ Jul 15th 2009 11:38AM]

Pretty sure that's the only way to go with the EU versions.

[thebomberman @ Jul 15th 2009 11:40AM]

Also, isn't your name normally spelt with a 'y'? ;)

[ijyt @ Jul 15th 2009 11:42AM]

That's the only thing you can do with this.


Does Home Premium only allow installation on one computer, or three?

[Jeffrey Fourmile @ Jul 15th 2009 11:44AM]

Trust me, I know how to spell my own name!

[thebomberman @ Jul 15th 2009 11:52AM]

"Does Home Premium only allow installation on one computer, or three?"
When has Windows ever sold multiple install OSs except obviously for corp?

[thebomberman @ Jul 15th 2009 12:00PM]

Blah :p

[ijyt @ Jul 15th 2009 12:03PM]

Yeah, but I recall there being something about multiple installations, I just don't remember if it turned out being the normal DVD or a special Family Pack that hasn't been released yet.

[thebomberman @ Jul 15th 2009 12:04PM]

Well, it'd be sweet but I can't see it for £44.99 :D

[SimbaK2K @ Jul 15th 2009 1:11PM]

Amazon currently has 233 copies of Home Premium, and 999+ of Professional.

Home Premium's are going down quick, so get in there if you want one.

[SimbaK2K @ Jul 15th 2009 1:33PM]

Home version now showing as sold out again. How long for, no one knows!