As you may already know, in Europe, Microsoft will market a special version of the Windows 7 operating system, mainly Windows 7 E. The OS comes with no option to upgrade (you will have to perform a fresh Windows installation) and no web browser. For some of you, installing a fresh copy of Windows 7 and finding yourself face to face with a browser-less operating system can be a problem. How will you access your IM account, how will you check your mail, and how will you download free software off the web if you cannot access the web?

I thought it a good idea to present the various options that are at your disposal. No browser? No problem, I say!

Option 1 – Store a browser’s installer on a USB stick, CD/DVD, external hard drive, or one of your partitions

This is the simplest method that you can employ: just download the installer of your favorite web browser (mine is Firefox 3.5), save it locally, and then move it to an USB stick, DVD, so on. Remember to do this before you run the installation process of Windows 7. When you’re done installing Windows 7 E, just run the web browser’s installer.

Option 2 – Purchase an installation CD

Alongside Windows 7 E, Microsoft will market the Internet Explorer browser as well – should cost about 3,90 € or £3.4. When you will go to the retail store to purchase your Windows 7 E copy, you will be able to purchase an IE8 installation CD alongside the OS. Alternatively you can order your IE8 CD straight from Microsoft here.

If IE8 is not to your liking, and Firefox is, you can visit the Mozilla Store here and order a Firefox installation CD ($4.20) instead.

Option 3 – Use windows Media Player to download a browser

According to Rafael Rivera, you could forget about the two steps presented above; you can download your favorite browser via Windows Media player by following a few simple steps:

– Launch (and configure) Windows Media Player
– Search for your browser, using the Windows Media Guide
– Click an ad, download your browser