What is meant with: "Windows 10 Pro 64 WE (EN/FR/DE/NL/IT)" ?

When configuring a laptop at the Lenovo website there are three options as Operating System (at no extra charges btw):

Windows 10 Pro 64 WE (EN/FR/DE/NL/IT)
Windows 10 Pro 64 English
Windows 10 Pro 64 Spanish

Vainly tried to figure out what is being meant with the 'WE' version but Google only produces Lenovo hits.

Anyone out there owns such a 'WE' version? What are the differences over using just the English version?

Thanks.

There is an N version available for the EU and maybe other countries that adheres to legal issues in various countries, also a KN version for Korea. The N version involved things like multimedia programs and competition from third-party companies.

Berton said:

The N version involved things like multimedia programs and competition from third-party companies.

To expand on that, the EU regulations insist that the N version does not include media features such as the Windows Media Player. The intention was that the consumer should have a free choice of which to install, from MS or a 3rd party. MS provide a Media Feature Pack for Windows N editions which installs the missing features, should MS be your choice.
https://support.microsoft.com/help/3...ows-n-editions

NB: the standard and N editions are separate editions as far as a digital licence is concerned. If your PC has a digital licence for Windows 10 Pro this will not activate Windows 10 Pro N (or the other way round).

Post the link to Lenovo's website. If a business grade laptop, most likely it comes with Windows Enterprise.

bro67 said:

Post the link to Lenovo's website. If a business grade laptop, most likely it comes with Windows Enterprise.

Isn't Enterprise Volume License Activated? I would think it would more likely be Pro or Pro for Workstations if Business grade.

tfwul said:

I just wondered whether the 'WE' version allows users to switch languages?

No. You can select the language when booting the laptop up first time, but that selection cannot be changed anymore. Even factory recovery thereafter only restores the factory state in selected language.

I have had laptops and desktops like that most of my life, coming from a bilingual country FInland (official languages Finnish and Swedish). Regardless of the manufacturer, commom practise nowadays is to let user to choose device language at first boot, before OOBE starts and first user account will be created. In Finland this selection usually also contains English, in addition to Finnish and Swedish.

When a new machine is then booted first time, it asks new owner about the language. User selects one language, and from that moment the selected language cannot be changed. BIOS / UEFI settings will be in selected language (subject to manufacturer having localized BIOS / UEFI settings page), and recovery partition will be set to recover Windows in selected language.

If user then decides to do factory recovery, language selection is no longer shown and WIndows will be restored in language originally selected.

SInce a few years, I've been happy to notice that also here in my adopted home country Germany some manufactures have started to offer the same. I am writing this on a relatively new HP ProBook 470 G5 laptop, which when I booted it up first time asked if I want to set it up in German or in English. I selected English and have done one factory recovery since that, and can confirm that recovery did not ask about the language but was done in English, the language I had originally selected.

If your language is English, you should select English operating system. If you select that WE version, you must in any case select Windows setup language when booting laptop up first time. You cannot change selection in the future, except of course using language packs to change Windows display language.

bro67 said:

Post the link to Lenovo's website. If a business grade laptop, most likely it comes with Windows Enterprise.

Never heard about a manufacturer to sell their machines to private customers on their online store equipped with W10 Enterprise, a Windows SKU that can only be activated through volume licensing.

alphanumeric said:

Isn't Enterprise Volume License Activated? I would think it would more likely be Pro or Pro for Workstations if Business grade.

Exactly.

Kari

alphanumeric said:

Isn't Enterprise Volume License Activated? I would think it would more likely be Pro or Pro for Workstations if Business grade.

All OEM editions come activated on the machines. If it is a business grade machine and for the Enterprise environment, which Lenovo has the largest contracts in Healthcare and government. You will find them selling them with Enterprise preinstalled.

bro67 said:

You will find them selling them with Enterprise preinstalled.

No.

Lenovo does not sell laptops with pre-installed W10 Enterprise, simply because Enterprise can only be activated with volume license. Nor do other manufacturers.

Most "business" laptops come with W10 Pro edition, or are delivered completely without OS for corporate customes. Depending on corporate IT policy and if the laptops they bought came with Pro or no OS, corporate customers can then buy volume licenses for Enterprise if that is their chosen edition. Upgrade is done simply by changing product key to volume licensing key, or with a provisioning package.

Even the manufacturers who support Windows AutoPilot and Microsoft 365 (Windows 10 and Office 365 as one single subscription product) allowing corporate customers and organizations to order devices in bulk which will be automatically registered to organization's AutoPilot and Intune systems and are shipped by manufacturer directly to end users are shipped with Pro edition. Microsoft 365 Business customers will get a license for W10 Pro or as it is called in AutoPilot W10 Business, Microsoft 365 Enterprise users will get W10 Enterprise but only by upgrading the Pro edition device was shipped with at first boot.

This, Windows AutoPilot is currently supported by Microsoft Surface, Lenovo, Dell and HP. Panasonic, Fujitsu and Toshiba will join AutoPilot late 2018.

Long post, short version: No, Lenovo does not sell laptops with W10 Enterprise pre-installed.

Kari