Chris Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 After much hemming and hawing, Microsoft finally shipped its so-called N Editions of Windows XP--Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional Edition N--to European Union (EU) countries in mid-June. The N Editions, as you may recall, were designed to satisfy an EU antitrust ruling against the software giant which stipulated that Microsoft must ship a version of Windows XP that did not include Windows Media Player (WMP) or any associated files.Microsoft's documentation about the N Editions explains what files where left out to meet this requirement. In total, almost 200 files were removed from XP Home and Professional Editions, though most of them are ancillary or support files. The most crucial missing pieces, of course, are Windows Media Player itself (WMPLAYER.EXE) and the "classic" version of WMP (MPLAYER2.EXE) that Microsoft still inexplicably ships in other XP versions.If you're wondering what the XP N Editions are like, wonder no more. I got my hands on both XP Home N and XP Pro N this week and gave them both a spin. The results were pretty uneventful.More | HereThe screenshot and captions on the right say it all ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Will these new versions be significantly cheaper than the originals? I doubt it, so what is the point?Yet another case of petty politicos exercising their powers to no useful end.Piffle! :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 I was quite satisfied with the edition that was installed when I ordered the computer. Don't these people have anything better to worry about? No wonder so many people in Europe now want out, as witnessed in France and Holland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Personally I like using Windows Media Player and it is my favourite so thanks but no thanks :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Personally I like using Windows Media Player and it is my favourite so thanks but no thanks :PI cannot understand why people complain about WMP. It certainly does all that I need. As for Quicktime, I was glad to get it off the computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Just done a quick search for sellers of this white elephant. With most I draw a blank but I found Amazon sell it - XPN Pro is £20 more expensive than the "normal" version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 With most I draw a blank but I found Amazon sell it - XPN Pro is £20 more expensive than the "normal" version.I thought that European legislation said that they had to be the same price as stated in this linkBelow is a quote from the above link:"The reason is that XP N is the same retail price as the full version of XP" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Either way, who, in their right mind, will pay full price for half a product? Whether on EU instruction or not.I think the discrepancy at Amazon may be due to the "real" version having a discount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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