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IT Pro Latest Licensing FAQs

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Q) What are my licences converted to when I buy the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Transition Pack?
A) The transition pack converts your Windows Small Business Server licences into standard licences for the server components in the edition of Windows Small Business Server that you have (standard or premium). For example, if you already have Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition with one pack of 20 extra Client Access Licences (CALs), the transition pack SKUs would convert your licences to 1 Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition licence and 1 Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition licence, with 20 Windows Server 2003 CALs and 20 Exchange Server 2003 CALs, respectively.

Note CAL packs only include Windows Server 2003 CALs and Exchange Server 2003 CALs, regardless of whether you buy the premium or standard editions. The Premium Transition Pack, however, includes standalone licences for SQL Server.

Q) What is the difference between Dynamic CRM 4.0 Limited Use CALs, Additive Use CALs and Full Use CALs?
A) Limited Client Access Licences (CALs) are for users that need read-only functionality. Full Use CALs are for users that need complete functionality. Users that have the limited CAL can step up by buying the additive CAL if they need full use functionality.

Q) How do I downgrade?
A) As an end user you have the right to downgrade as set out in your Software Licence Terms. Downgrade rights allow you to buy the most recent version of a Microsoft program, but continue to run a previous version until you are ready to upgrade.

Example: You’re buying a new computer system and it needs to run the same operating system as your existing 10 systems — Windows XP Professional. Pre-installed Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate both include downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional.

You need to source your own media which should be a legally licensed version (bought as either boxed or pre-installed software, or through a Volume Licensing agreement). If you decide to downgrade, you can use one legal version of the downgrade media for multiple installations. You don’t need to have one set of Windows XP Professional media for each PC you are downgrading because you have legitimate full operating system licences for Windows Vista Business/Ultimate, which gave you the right to downgrade. You can then run Windows XP Professional until you are ready to upgrade the system to Windows Vista Business/Ultimate—when you would already be licensed.

When you downgrade Windows Vista Business and Ultimate as set out in your Software Licence Terms and you use both Windows XP media and the associated product key that was previously activated, you will fail activation because of the hardware configuration change when installing on the Vista system. When this happens, you will be prompted to call the Activation Support Line and explain your circumstances to a Customer Service Representative. Once we have confirmed that you have a valid Vista Business or Ultimate licence, the Customer Service Representative will help you activate your software.

Q) Do I need a product key for all Volume Licensing products?
A) No. Not all products need a product key. Click here for a guide to Volume Licence Keys.

Q) What version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 gives downgrade rights to Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition under Volume Licensing?
A) If you buy a licence for the following Visual Studio Team System products you can use any version of Visual Studio Enterprise in place of your licensed software.

· Visual Studio® Team System 2008 Architecture Edition

· Visual Studio® Team System 2008 Development Edition

· Visual Studio® Team System 2008 Test Edition

· Visual Studio® Team System 2008 Database Edition

· Visual Studio® Team System 2008 Team Suite

Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 01, 2009
    Downgrade rights are a question that comes up time and time again.  We shouldn't really need to rely on Blogs to get this information.   Surely MS could generate a single matrix covering all products as a definitive guide?