According to Microsoft, it's also not reducing Windows 7's prices from Vista's current marks as much in the EU as it is . Windows 7 Home Premium's EU price is down €6, or 4% from the same Vista edition, half the 8% cut that Microsoft made to Home Premium in the U.S. In the U.K., Microsoft left prices untouched; Windows 7 will be priced the same as Vista.

Europe's customers will be paying more for less, as Microsoft has decided to yank Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) from Windows 7 in an effort to head off EU antitrust regulators, who may still force the company to take more drastic measures.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it was for customers in the EU, and would ship a browser-less edition, dubbed Windows 7E. Instead, Microsoft said computer makers could decide which browser or browsers to install.

But Windows 7E presents special problems for people who intend to upgrade existing computers from Windows Vista to the new OS. Because EU users to do "in-place" upgrades -- which would leave some version of IE on the machine -- the company isn't selling "Upgrade" editions. Instead, it's selling the "Full" editions, which are usually more expensive, at "Upgrade" prices. (The prices quoted above, for example, compare U.S. Upgrade editions with EU Full editions, since the latter has been marked down.)

It's unclear whether Microsoft's move will mollify EU officials. Although most analysts saw yanking IE8 as a major concession, EU's antitrust agency to the idea." Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less," the European Commission said in a statement issued after Microsoft's June 11 announcement.