Microsoft announce that the OneDrive Standalone plan will become Microsoft 365 Basic on 30 January, 2023 and will include the same 100GB of cloud storage as well as ad-free and secure email with Outlook. Existing customers will automatically be transitioned at the end of January and advanced security features will also be added later in 2023.
Find the announcement article here: https://bit.ly/3H9Z4nx.
Microsoft remind us that Windows 8.1 reached End of Support on 10 January, 2023 at which point software updates are no longer provided. It’s also worth noting that Microsoft will not be offering Extended Security Updates for Windows 8.1.
Find a useful article with a whole host of FAQs and links to further information here: https://bit.ly/3GvzpFn.
Microsoft release Azure DevOps Server 2022 to the web with no changes to the existing Server/CAL licensing model. Find the announcement of availability here: https://bit.ly/3X26Oyv.
There’s a new (September 2022) Microsoft Licensing Guide for Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance. It gives you an overview of the service tiers, and explains how to license containers, how the billing under different connectivity modes works, how to use the Azure Hybrid Benefit, and the licensing for non-production use.
Find this guide here: http://bit.ly/3u7z2es.
There’s an updated (October 2022) “Introduction to Microsoft Core licensing models” Licensing Brief from Microsoft. The main changes are for the new Windows Server per virtual machine licensing option, as well as the change for SQL Server and BizTalk Server where licensing by virtual machine is now a Software Assurance benefit.
Find this updated Licensing Brief here: https://bit.ly/3SWTn0u.
Microsoft announce that the existing Common Area Phone licence will be rebranded to the Teams Shared Device licence to enable more scenarios involving shared devices. This licence will still be used for Teams Phones deployed in shared areas, but will also be used to support a hotdesking experience on a Teams Display, and for a standalone Teams Panel not tied to a Microsoft Teams Room.
Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/3TZLk2I.
There’s an updated (November 2022) “Windows 11 licensing for Virtual Desktops” Licensing Brief from Microsoft with two main changes.
Firstly, there’s the inclusion of the Flexible Virtualization Benefit showing the additional options customers can now have for using Windows 11 virtual machines with an Authorized Outsourcer’s shared hardware.
Secondly, the Qualifying Operating System requirements are updated, removing the need for one when a user is licensed with a Microsoft 365 licence. Find this updated guide here: http://bit.ly/3gpVmg7.
There’s a change to BizTalk Server 2020 licensing where the option to license at a virtual machine level becomes a Software Assurance benefit. Find the updated language in the Product Terms here: http://bit.ly/3AyCCSk.
There’s an updated (October 2022) “Licensing Microsoft server products in virtual environments” Licensing Brief from Microsoft.
There are updates for the new per virtual machine licensing model for Windows Server, the introduction of the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, and the changes for SQL Server 2022 where licensing by virtual machine becomes an SA/Software Subscription benefit.
Find this updated Licensing Brief here: https://bit.ly/3fG3BUw.
There’s a new SQL Server 2022 Licensing Guide (http://bit.ly/3OeDYqT) and Datasheet (http://bit.ly/3V0dETI), and the Product Terms is also updated (http://bit.ly/3prduoo) for SQL Server 2022. Here are the key licensing changes to be aware of:
SQL Server 2022 licenses with SA or purchased as Software Subscriptions are also eligible for the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, introduced in October 2022, enabling customers to use their licences with any Authorized Outsourcer’s shared hardware. Find the Flexible Virtualization Benefit Licensing Guide here: http://bit.ly/3hGOJ9l.
And finally, there’s the new PAYG option where customers can pay for SQL Server on a consumption basis from $0.1 per hour for a Standard Core, and $0.375 for an Enterprise Core for Azure Arc-enabled servers. Find out more about how that all works here: http://bit.ly/3Arq2UP.