Licensing of MS Windows Server in Dev and Test Environment.

Question

Hello,

Can MS Windows Server 2012 Standard consumes licenses (should consume licenses) for Dev and Test environment or we can give exception.

Please suggest.

Thank You.

Regards,

Prasad Deshpande

Answer 1

You can use the free 180 day evaluation here for your testing.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-server-2012-r2

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Answer 2

Hello Prasad Deshpande

As far as I know, Microsoft’s licensing terms do not differentiate between production, development, or testing environments. This means that even for a Dev or Test environment, a valid license is required.

So, if you are using Windows Server 2012 Standard in a Dev and Test environment, you will need to acquire and consume licenses for it.

And here's the good thing. We could try to download Windows ISO in evaluation center MSDN or Visual Studio.

Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscriptions: These are designed specifically for development and testing, and include licenses for a wide range of Microsoft products. The software licensed through MSDN should not be used in production environments.

Visual Studio subscriptions: Visual Studio subscriptions come with a range of Microsoft software that can be used for development and testing, including Windows Server.

Best Regards,

Hania Lian