There’s a new (October 2016) Windows 10 Licensing Guide which you’ll find updated for Windows 10 Enterprise E3 and E5 as well as details for the Cloud Solution Provider program.
Find it in the desktop section of our Licensing Guides emporium: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
If you’re eligible for Windows 10 in an academic institution, then this is a useful page detailing how to license and configure Windows 10 Pro Education and Windows 10 Education: http://bit.ly/2d9Esgu.
The September 2016 Microsoft Volume License Newsletter is out and it focusses on some of the recent changes to Windows 10 Enterprise licensing. How many do you know?
Well, Windows 10 Enterprise with SA has been renamed to Windows 10 Enterprise E3, and there’s a new E5 edition available which includes Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection. All licences are available as user or device licences and there are Add-ons if you need to move between the models.
Read it and subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/2bQQzit.
This useful newsletter has three items of licensing interest this month – let’s take a look.
First of all there’s confirmation that Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 will be available in October 2016, with Service Providers being able to download the products from 17 October. The licensing model changes to Core licences and there’s a requirement for a minimum of 8 Core licences per processor. The virtualisation rules are pretty much the same as for 2012 R2: license all the cores with Datacenter edition for unlimited virtualisation, and license all cores with Standard edition for the rights to run a single VM.
Then there’s confirmation that Windows 10 Enterprise E3 is available in the CSP program from 1 September 2016. Licensed users may install the software on up to 5 devices but they will not have access to any virtualisation rights or Software Assurance benefits. Note that qualifying licences of Windows 10 Pro and above are required.
And finally, you’ll want to put 29 September in your diary for the quarterly licensing briefing from the Microsoft SPLA team. The agenda is set to cover the detail of licensing Windows 10 Enterprise E3 through CSP, and Windows Server and System Center 2016 through SPLA. Register for the Cloud Channel Network to attend: http://bit.ly/2c3U8nd or, if you’re already a member, add the event to your calendar here: http://bit.ly/2bPvwOt.
Sign up for this free monthly newsletter here: http://bit.ly/1iVEvxV.
From 1 August 2016 there are changes to the Windows 10 edition line-up: you can still buy Windows 10 Enterprise but there are now also E3 and E5 editions. So, what’s the story here? Well, Windows 10 Enterprise E3 is the new name for Windows 10 Enterprise + SA, and Windows 10 Enterprise E5 adds Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection on top of E3. Both editions are available on per user or a per device basis – check out this page for the details: http://bit.ly/2bgmb2L.
Then take a look at page 37 of the August 2016 Product Terms document to see the new SKUs that are available. Of particular note are the Add-ons which allow you to move between editions and licensing models. This means that you can go from E3 per device to E5 per device, or from E3 per device to E3 per user, or from E3 per user to E5 per user, and you’ll find the rules for these Add-on licences detailed on page 41. In addition, if organisations have fully paid licences for Windows with active SA then they can purchase E3/E5 From SA User SLs instead of SA to move to a user licensing model for Windows (page 42).
It’s also worth mentioning at this point that there are some changes with MDOP with two of the components (Application Virtualization (App-V) and User Environment Virtualization (UE-V)) now part of Windows 10 Enterprise. This Microsoft site is useful for the detail on this: http://bit.ly/2aYEcAi.
Microsoft announce that Windows 10 Enterprise E3 will be available through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program in autumn 2016. This means that customers will be able to buy a subscription to Windows 10 as part of a managed service with pricing at $7 a month.
Find Microsoft’s full blog post here: http://bit.ly/29FKuUc.
It’s all change! Firstly, Microsoft announce that Windows 10 Enterprise will be renamed to Windows 10 Enterprise E3, and that Windows 10 Enterprise E5 will be introduced which includes Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection.
Then, Enterprise Mobility Suite will be renamed Enterprise Mobility + Security and, again, there will be E3 and E5 flavours of this.
There’s a good diagram here (http://bit.ly/29Cc0Er) which shows you the components of both of these editions.
And finally, the Enterprise Cloud Suite will be called Secure Productive Enterprise E3/E5 containing the relevant Office 365, EM+S and Windows 10 Enterprise plans.
Find the Microsoft announcement here: http://bit.ly/29ur3we.
The Microsoft VL Newsletter for January 2016 is released, with a focus on Windows 10.
There’s a reminder of the Windows 10 offerings available through Volume Licensing programs as well as links to the (very good) Licensing Guide, a useful Deployment Guide, and a Windows SA per User at-a-glance two-pager.
Read the archives and sign up for future issues here: http://bit.ly/1SPW0N8.
What Windows Branch are you entitled to if you don’t renew the Software Assurance on Windows 10?
Page 42 of the December 2015 Product Terms confirms that customers must uninstall Windows 10 Enterprise Current Branch, but if they have perpetual rights to Windows Enterprise then they may install the Long Term Servicing Branch version that was current at the time the SA ended.
Usually when Microsoft launch a new flavour of Windows the previous version is available preinstalled on new machines for at least another two years. It’s different with Windows 10!
Windows 7 Professional will be available until 31 October 2016 (4 years after the launch of Windows 8) while Windows 8.1 will also be available until 31 October 2016 but that’s a mere 15 months after the launch of Windows 10.
The end of Windows 8 comes even quicker at 30 June 2016. Microsoft’s Windows lifecycle fact sheet has all the details: http://bit.ly/1MGslQR.