Tag Archives: Windows 10

End of sales for OEM Windows 8.1 – October 2016

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.

Microsoft Hosting and CSP Newsletter

The October 2015 Microsoft Hosting and Cloud Service Provider Newsletter is out.

There are two things of particular note if licensing is your thing; firstly, there’s a recap of the news that Microsoft will soon allow customers to bring their own Windows Server and Windows 10 licences to Azure, and the FAQ is worth a look (http://bit.ly/1jeqDj6).

Then there’s an announcement of a new digital workshop if you want to gain a better understanding of the CSP licensing model which is free for partners to register for (http://bit.ly/1k4TzdG).

Sign up for this free monthly newsletter here: http://bit.ly/1iVEvxV.

Windows 10 Activation

This is a useful page on the different ways that Windows 10 can be activated, ranging from the new “digital entitlement” when you’ve used the free upgrade to Windows 10, to the traditional product keys required when Windows 10 is purchased through a Volume Licensing agreement.

There’s also help on what to do when you need to activate after reinstalling Windows 10 or when you’ve made a hardware configuration change.

Read all about it here: http://bit.ly/1JMzIEG.

Windows 10 Servicing Options

There’s a jolly useful article published by Microsoft on the different servicing options for Windows 10. If you still haven’t got to grips with Current Branch, Current Branch for Business, and Long Term Servicing Branch then this article is worth a read: http://bit.ly/1OcDI7B.

There’s confirmation that Feature Upgrades will be published 2 or 3 times a year, and Service Updates (security fixes) will continue to be published monthly on Update (Patch) Tuesday. It’s also worth noting that all new releases, of either type, are cumulative so that installing them brings a device completely up to date.

August 2015 Updated Volume Licensing Briefs

Due to the arrival of Windows 10 in July 2015, four of the existing Microsoft Volume Licensing Briefs have been updated for August 2015. Read on to find out what’s changed in each document.

“Licensing Windows desktop operating system for use with virtual machines” (http://bit.ly/IKPKXE)

  • Updated for Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education throughout
  • Remote access of VOSEs is no longer on “device(s) in your datacenter” but on “device(s) dedicated to Customer’s use” (page 3)

“Windows desktop operating system license requirements” (http://bit.ly/1jNIsjQ)

  • Updated for Windows 10 throughout
  • Wording changed to clarify that an assignment of a Volume Licensing Upgrade license is permanent UNLESS there is active SA and a couple of other conditions are satisfied (page 2)

“Licensing Windows and Microsoft Office for use on the Macintosh” (http://bit.ly/Hkv3BM)

  • Updated for Windows 10 and Office 2016 for Mac throughout
  • Note added that when licensing Office on a per user basis through Office 365, the licence must be assigned to a single user before using the software (page 4)
  • Office 365 ProPlus and Office 365 Business are added to the list of equivalent editions allowed under platform independence rights and there’s a note that Office 365 click-to run automatically installs the Mac versions of the Office applications (page 5)

“Downgrade rights for Microsoft Volume Licensing, OEM, and full-package product licenses” (http://bit.ly/17o1yEf)

  • Updated for Windows 10 throughout
  • A frequently asked question is added confirming that users licensed with Windows SA per User receive downgrade rights for all of their devices (page 4)
  • Another question is added confirming the downgrade path for Skype for Business CALs (page 5)

Windows 10 Upgrades

Microsoft announced last week that Windows 10 will be available on 29 July 2015.

This FAQ gives lots of information on the upgrade process, but here are the key licensing facts:

  • The free upgrades will be available for Windows 7 SP1 and 8.1 devices for a year;
  • Home editions will upgrade to Windows 10 Home, while Professional and Ultimate editions will go to Windows 10 Pro;
  • Customers with Windows Enterprise licences will need Software Assurance to upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise.

Read the whole FAQ here: http://bit.ly/1KPXWR8.

Windows 10 Editions

Microsoft announce the editions that will be available for Windows 10. Here’s the summary:

  • Windows 10 Home (consumer desktops)
  • Windows 10 Mobile (smartphones and tablets)
  • Windows 10 Pro (small business desktops) – and these three editions will be available as the free upgrades for qualifying Windows 7 and 8.1 phones and devices
  • Windows 10 Enterprise (medium and large business desktops, available through Volume Licensing)
  • Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise (business smartphones and tablets, available through VL)
  • Windows 10 Education (education desktops, available through Academic VL)
  • There will also be Industry versions of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise (ATMs, POS devices etc) and Windows 10 IoT Core (small footprint, low cost devices like gateways).

For the full story with some idea of the functionality included, read the Microsoft announcement here: http://bit.ly/1E8skk3.

Windows 10 Free Upgrades

It’s confirmed that Windows 7/8/8.1 Enterprise editions won’t be included in the free upgrade to Windows 10 that’s been announced for consumer editions unless, of course, customers have Software Assurance.

This is a nice article on the business future of Windows 10 (http://bit.ly/1vnZHlC) and the small print at the bottom of this page confirms that Windows RT/RT 8.1 won’t be included in the free upgrade either: http://bit.ly/1tPtmmK.