After arguing for years that Windows Media Player was inextricably linked with the operating system, Microsoft is about to release a version of Windows without Media Player:
Microsoft is giving European computer manufacturers the choice of buying Windows with or without the company’s favored Windows Media Player, which lets computer users listen to music and watch videos. Both versions of Windows will be offered for the same price, and the company said they will be available through retail channels, but only in European outlets.
Why only in Europe? Because that’s where the courts ruled that bundling Media Player with Windows was an antitrust violation.
I’ll be curious to see whether Windows Reduced Media Edition (makes it sound appealing, eh?) actually sells many copies. The price is exactly the same, so computer makers have no incentive to sell a version of Windows without a media player — all they get in return is increased tech support headaches. The only way this could take off would be if a competitor with a major media player (iTunes or RealPlayer, for instance) can convince a computer manufacturer to give it an exclusive deal on all new computers.
Ed Bott 
This is nuts. Microsoft should be free to provide Windows Media Player with Windows, no matter where the sales take place. If users don’t want to use it, no one is pointing a gun to their head forcing them to do so. Moreover, at least in this country, and in Europe as far as I know, anyone who wants to use RealPlayer or iTunes can download the basic free version (or pay more for a premium version) any time they want. That’s the way it should be.
Maybe HP will adopt it, then provide iTunes by default to encourage people to buy the HP+iPod.
I think this version of Windows is largely symbolic rather than anything else.