Microsoft will next week end an offer that allowed UK buyers of Windows 7 to get the full version for the price of an upgrade.
Those who want to pre-order the full version for the price of the upgrade version have until 31 August to do so, Microsoft said in a blog post on Monday.
After 1 September, European customers will be given the choice of ordering an upgrade version or paying a higher price for the full version, which does not require an earlier version of Windows be installed.
Windows 7 is scheduled for public release on 22 October.
Microsoft's original plan for the operating system was to deliver Windows 7 in Europe in a special 'E' version, which came without a browser. At the time it outlined that plan, the company said it would not sell an upgrade version in Europe, but would instead offer the full E version of Windows 7 at upgrade pricing.
However, amid widespread criticism and indications from European regulators that the browserless plan would not be acceptable, Microsoft said last month it would scrap the plan. Instead, it said it would allow users in Europe to choose which browsers they want from a ballot screen in Windows 7.
The company said it is still working out the details on that front. "I hope to continue to keep people updated on our ballot screen proposal as we have more to share," Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc wrote in Monday's posting.
In addition, Microsoft said it will extend, for a time, a family pack option for Windows 7 to eight European countries: the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden. Microsoft has already announced plans to offer the family pack, which allows users to upgrade three PCs to the Home Premium edition, in the US and Canada.
