Windows 7 breaks Amazon UK pre-order volume record, ousts Harry Potter

Take it from us, your London-based sleuths, when anything sells faster than Harry Potter books or DVDs in the UK, it's scorching hot. Case in point is Microsoft's Vista successor, which has sold so well that it has beaten the Amazon UK pre-order record previously held by J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In fact, Windows 7 was able to tally up more sales in the first 8 hours of pre-order availability than Vista was able to collect altogether. Now that's what we call an upgrade.

[crazytuga Posted Oct 21st 2009 3:11PM]

all the users that are going to buy the new w7 ,dont forget to buy the antivirus
the antispyware,to buy the external harddrive for backup, coffee for the 28 hours upgrade, zen music for relax when things are getting longer, slower, crashing .
also dont forget to transfer all the virus and trojans from the old xp os to the new one w7.
good luck

[NohOne Posted Oct 21st 2009 3:27PM]

Andir, there have many "ideas" just in this centruy alone that were suposed to help their respective societies that turned out to harm rather than help. We have somebody running the US right now who was an Idealist and was going to help society, but instead is making it worse and worse.

But it is the idea of something, not the actual results of those ideas that are important, correct?

[Shigawire Posted Oct 21st 2009 3:29PM]

Sleuths? Since when are Engadget bloggers detectives? Other people post news and you link to it and add snarky comments. Don't get me wrong, I love the E, but maybe check your thesaurus more carefully before you start referring to yourselves as "harbingers" or something.

[NohOne Posted Oct 21st 2009 3:34PM]

Let me add one more thing, a blind faith in anything is bad. Blind faith is just that, blind - it allows you to ignore ways you could make better that in which you put your faith. It allows you to ignore what is wrong, and treat the weaknesses as the greatest asset. Understanding the merits of other ideas allows you to improve your own.

[Andir Posted Oct 21st 2009 4:27PM]

Trust me, I've looked and Windows 7 offers no tangible upgrade path. I've stated above, it's not easier to use (it's harder to get to settings, etc.) and they've removed parts that made operating it useful. I don't see any appreciable speed benefit to Windows 7 over XP, and as I stated, everything is more hidden or just "fluff" that gets in the way. There's no blind involved in that. I'm sick of seeing people blinded by the look of the system that offers no REAL benefit.

[Jango311 Posted Oct 21st 2009 4:48PM]

I am using an iMac now, but my netbook has W7 on it and I find it better than XP.

OSX is still my favorite for just working right, but W7 has been great so far for me. It also is faster and I seam to get less "End Now" errors when programs don't close.

[NohOne Posted Oct 21st 2009 4:57PM]

"I'm sick of seeing people blinded by the look of the system that offers no REAL benefit."

And what difference does it make to you to the point it makes you "sick" if others are blinded by their faith in products that you do not like? Should we force people like my parents, who have problems just finding the powerbutton on their computer, to try Windows, OSX, and Linux, before they buy a computer? Should we force them to try IE, FF, Safari, and Opera before they can start reading their email in a web browser (then we need to force them to try GMail, Live Mail, etc. before they can get a permanent mail account)? No, they use Windows, IE, and Hotmail/Live Mail because those are the tools I know and work with most, and if they have problems those are the tools I can help them with most.

People like myself who does software development for a living have the tools I am most comfortable with - Windows, Visual Studio, IIS, IE, etc. so those are the tools that I use the most. That does not mean that I look at other technologies to evaluate them, as I have stated I have done iPhone development. I hated it because I find the tools for it very unproductive. I don't like OSX because, contrary to what many say, it is very inconsistent and restrictive. I have not used Linux in many years and I am sure that it has become better over the years, but I found myself spending more time trying to get the OS to work than I spent getting work done.

But to say that it makes you "sick" because people do not see everything in the same way that you do is disturbing. What business is it of yours what people like or don't like? Does my choice of what car I drive, where I live, who I associate with, the TV shows I watch and how I watch them make you sick also? I write here often, poking fun at people that say stupid things or have blind faith in the products they use, but at the end of the day it does not make me "sick" what they choose for their computing needs. It makes a difference in my life because I own stock in two of the three major OS manufacturers (it was almost 3, good thing I never invested in VA Linux like I wanted to), but a sign of having problems is if what others decided to do made me personally sick.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 2:48AM]

can't wait to get my copy, found a good deal for pre-order on www.gearbargains.net . Will post comment after I tested it out

[Andir Posted Oct 21st 2009 5:47PM]

You like to take every singular work and make an argument about it. That's not my point. I'm "sick" of the monopolistic hold Microsoft has on the industry and people. I want the consumer to have a _viable_ choice instead of being force fed whatever comes with their system because of shady practices and business deals that go unpunished. Right now you could say, give me a race car and you'd get 15 different responses and if you said, I need a gaming computer... you'd get one. That's what makes me "sick."

[NohOne Posted Oct 21st 2009 6:45PM]

Is it Microsoft's fault that Apple does not, as one infamous commentor here on Engadget wrote "sell-out" to game developers and make their OS more palatable to the game developer? Is it Microsoft's fault that the Linux user demands that every bit of software they put on their computer be open source (don't say they don't demand this - they do) which the big game developers will not do? Is it Microsoft's fault when a purely game computer, the PS3, removes the computer portion of their game console by no longer allow people to install Linux? Is it Microsoft's fault that Sony deliberately did not allow Linux to have full access to the PS3's hardware?

I'm sorry, but it is not Microsoft's place to go to game developers and help them develop games for OSX. It is not Microsoft's place to go to game developers and help them develop games for Linux. I can't help but draw lines to how the current President thinks - we need to take from those who have, and give it to those who do not have (and usually those who do not have are there simply because they do not try to help themselves). Perhaps people should get off their asses and try harder to make OSX a better gaming computer. Perhaps people should get off their asses and try harder to make Linux a better gaming computer - and don't force the game companies to bend to your "ideals" by making everything open source. Don't sit around and pout about that evil monopoly Microsoft and how you can't do anything about it, because you can. Linux people brag about how they have all the source code at their access and can make whatever changes they wish, put that know-how to use, write the next Halo. Write the next Mario Bros. You say how good all you open source developers are at writing code, prove it.

And as for calling all of us who support Microsoft shills, first off I wish I were getting a paycheck from Microsoft. Second, if you are a Linux user since there is no company behind Linux then the people who use it are the employees of Linux (being, as I wrote, you like to say that all users can contribute) and your advocacy therefore makes you a Linux shill.

[distractedfocus Posted Oct 21st 2009 7:23PM]

If you haven't been using 7, you will soon know why it is so popular.....Its great!!!!!!

[sporkinum Posted Oct 21st 2009 10:54PM]

Microsoft obviously spent big bux on an inordinately large number of shills. What is with these people acting like an OS with a few changes is the second coming? Plenty of sheeple will follow the flock though.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 21st 2009 11:22PM]

Let's go Ballmer Snape.

Ballmer Ballmer Ballmer.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 4:51AM]

why are all comments downgrading MS or its products down-rated....whereas all those actually praising the behemoth highest ranked....IS THIS WHAT MICROSOFT PAYS ITS TECHIES TO DO...

[alex4lex Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:38AM]

C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER

[zboot Posted Oct 22nd 2009 3:53PM]

Due to my many years of internet experience, I can confidently say that all posts preceding this are shopped.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 1st 2009 1:52AM]

pre-orders are more than all of vista sales? looks like apple's ads did nothing.