We all remember all the different versions of Windows Vista that were available on launch and how confusing it was, and I thought that was set to improve with 7. Only partially so. In Europe we get not only the regular Windows 7 flavors, but also some with a N suffix. What does this N mean?

Well, in 2004 Microsoft was fined almost €500m by the European Commission declaring that because Microsoft were so huge, that bundling Windows Media Player (WMP) in Windows was anti-competitive and thus forced to offer a version that didn’t include it. They could still sell the bundled version so long as the sold the unbundled version too. This resulted in a version of XP being retro-fitted with the N moniker, and subsequently versions of Vista accordingly. Now Windows 7 has hit the shelves and it seems that this is set to continue.

The really ridiculous thing about it is, they cost the exact same price at most retailers. Buy a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium Full and it’ll set up back about 80 quid for the upgrade of 150 for the full package. Decide to by Windows 7 Home Premium N, thats without WMP included, and its 80 for the upgrade and yes, you guessed it, 150 for the full package.

So why would you ever bother buying a copy of 7N then? Well, you wouldn’t. Unless it was confusing and you didn’t realise when you bought it, which some people clearly have done. To add insult to injury it seems that you can’t even install WMP onto an N edition Windows 7, that is at least you couldn’t initially.

Fortunately, and I don’t know how well publicised this MS article is, but now you can, with a specific MS download that allows you to do just that. I can only assume that there was uproar and they decided to turn the steamboat around by releasing the Media Feature Pack for Windows 7 N.

So, if you’re trying to install WMP on a Windows 7 N edition you might like to wander over to the following link.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=31017ed3-166a-4c75-b90c-a6cef9b414c4