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IT Pro Top Licensing FAQs – January 08

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Q) Can I downgrade Microsoft Windows Vista Business or Ultimate purchased pre-installed on a new PC?
A) As an end user you have the right to downgrade as set out in your Software Licence Terms.

Example: You’re buying a new computer system and it needs to run the same operating system as your existing 10 systems — Windows XP Professional. Pre-installed Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate both include downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional.

You need to source your own media which should be a legally licensed version (bought as either boxed or pre-installed software, or through a Volume Licensing agreement). You don’t need to have one set of Windows XP Professional media for each PC you are downgrading because you have legitimate full operating system licences for Windows Vista Business/Ultimate, which gives you the right to downgrade. You can then run Windows XP Professional until you are ready to upgrade the system to Windows Vista Business/Ultimate—when you would already be licensed.

When you downgrade Windows Vista Business and Ultimate as set out in your Software Licence Terms and you use both Windows XP media and the associated product key that was previously activated you need to activate via the phone only, 0800 0188 354, Once confirmed that you have a valid Vista Business or Ultimate licence, the Customer Service Representative will help you activate your software.

Q) Can I use any version of Microsoft Office on my desktop if I am accessing Microsoft Office from a network device?
A) No. The edition of Microsoft Office that is installed on your desktop will need to be the same or higher than the version that is installed on the network. Please refer to the table in the appendix of the following document:

Licensing of Microsoft Desktop Application Software for Use with Windows Server Terminal Services

Q) Do I need to buy another licence for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for failover?
A)No. A passive server does not need a licence, provided that the number of processors in the passive server is equal or less than those of the active server. The passive server can take the duties of the active server for a max of 30 days. After that, it must be licensed accordingly. Database mirroring and failover clustering is available for Standard and Enterprise editions of SQL Server 2008.

For more information click here.

Q) What licences do I get when I use the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 R2 Transition Pack?
A)SBS 2003 R2 Transition Pack Standard Edition provides licences for stand-alone versions of the following products:

  • Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition
  • Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition

SBS 2003 R2 Transition Pack Premium Edition provides licences for stand-alone versions of the following products:

  • Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition
  • Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition
  • SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition

· ISA Server 2004 Standard Edition

For more information click here.

Q) Can I use Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 CALs to access a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Server?
A) Yes. SBS 2008 CALs give you with the right to access SBS 2003.

For more information click here.

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