Licensing Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials

Useful Microsoft blog article on changes to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials licensing. There’s a reminder that virtualisation licensing rights have been expanded so you can now install Essentials on the physical server AND in a virtual machine, but more interestingly there’s news of the Windows Server Essentials Experience role that’s been added to Standard and Datacenter editions.

Customers can now turn on this role rather than exercising their downgrade rights to install Essentials BUT the licensing remains the same as for the edition purchased – in other words, you’ll still need Windows Server CALs, and RDS CALs if you’re using the Remote Web Access feature. http://bit.ly/1aado63

New Volume Licensing Briefs for October and November 2013

October 2013

Licensing Windows Embedded 8

Downgrade Rights for Microsoft Volume Licensing, OEM, and FPP Licences

  • Updated for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Office 2013 products
  • Previous brief: September 2012
  •  http://bit.ly/17o1yEf

Microsoft Licensing for the Consumerization of IT

Microsoft Licensing for the Consumerization of IT – Academic Licensing Scenarios

November 2013

Licensing Windows Intune

  • Updated for the December 2012 update of Windows Intune and the November 2013 update of Windows 8.1
  • Previous brief: December 2012
  •  http://bit.ly/17mQhUo

Licensing Office 365 ProPlus Subscription Service in Volume Licensing

Licensing Windows and Microsoft Office for use on a Mac

What are “Qualified Devices”?

  • Updated to reflect the definitions of “Qualified Device” and “Management for Qualified Devices” as revised in October 2012 for the Enterprise Agreement, and Open Value and Open Value Subscription agreements
  • http://bit.ly/1dA2bmC

Reimaging Licensed Microsoft Software using Volume Licensing Media

  • Updated for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Previous brief: January 2013
  •  http://bit.ly/1a8GtyG

Step-up Licenses

  • Updated to reflect the available step-up licences as of November 2013
  • Previous brief: December 2012
  •  http://bit.ly/1imCMuf

Multi-Lingual User Interface (MUI) Language Packs for Windows

Office 365 Dual Access Rights

Useful post on the Microsoft Volume Licensing Blog covering dual access rights with Office 365. Three key takeaways:

  1. There’s a good table showing which plans equate to which CALs (note that not all Office 365 plans include dual access rights)
  2. Underlying on-premise servers need to be licensed for users (SQL and Windows Server to support SharePoint, for example) and
  3. Office 365 USLs can be used to access licensed servers deployed on third party servers (licensed via Licence Mobility). http://bit.ly/1cdivtH

Windows 8.1 Licensing Guide

New Windows 8.1 Licensing Guide from Microsoft (http://bit.ly/19WbhCI). Licensing largely the same, as you’d expect, but three key clarifications:

  • Customers covered with SA retain perpetual use rights for Windows 8.1 Enterprise (even after SA has expired and regardless of whether they have installed the Enterprise edition – a change from the original October 2012 Windows 8 Licensing Guide – page 9)
  • VL customers with Windows 8 Pro without SA can upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro, but active SA is needed to upgrade to Windows 8.1 Enterprise (page 5)
  • Confirmation that primary users of a device covered with MDOP and CSL are also covered for MDOP on their companion devices (page 13).

Announcement of Student Advantage

Microsoft announce a program where Office 365 ProPlus is free for students. It’s called Student Advantage and from 1st December 2013 “any academic institution that licenses Office for staff and faculty can provide Office 365 ProPlus for students at no additional cost.” More details are to be released over the coming weeks. Read the original announcement here: http://bit.ly/196fPJG.

Overview of the Changes to the October 2013 Product Use Rights Document

If, like me, you were watching for the calendar to tick over to the first of the quarter to see what would be new in the October 2013 PUR, then you may be disappointed in the changes that I’m about to detail. If you’re a slightly more well-balanced person, you’ll be relieved, as there are no major licensing changes revealed to get your head around.

I’ve decided to limit this blog post to the changes that affect us in October 2013 – there are some more changes that will make sense when Microsoft make announcements over the coming months and we’ll tackle those bits and pieces then.

The products that are added and deleted are very much what you’d imagine. We bid a final farewell to System Center Essentials 2010 and TechNet, while Windows 8 goes to 8.1, and System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012 go to the new R2 versions with no changes to the licensing detailed. There’s more that’s changed on the CRM front simply because there’s a slightly different set of licences, and you’ll find updated sections both for the on-premise CRM Server 2013 and the new CRM Online offerings.

And then there are a few little bits and bobs that tidy up some loose ends. In particular, there’s confirmation that:

  • Users licensed with an Office 365 ProPlus USL may activate Microsoft Office Mobile on up to 5 smartphones (page 82)
  • External users invited to Yammer via external network functionality don’t need USLs (page 93)
  • Users licensed for Exchange Online Archiving for Exchange Server that have Exchange Standard CALs may access Exchange Server 2013 Enterprise CAL features to support the use of Exchange Online Archiving for Exchange Server (page 72)
  • There are a couple more use scenarios detailed for when a CAL is not required for Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2013 (page 42)

And for this month, that’s about it!

More Flexibility in Purchasing Windows Azure through an EA

Announcement from Microsoft regarding more flexibility in purchasing Windows Azure through the EA: “On Nov 1, Microsoft will offer Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers access to discounted Windows Azure prices, regardless of upfront commitment, without overuse penalties and with the flexibility of annual payments.” Read the full press release here: http://bit.ly/1e5qNRy