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IT Professional Top Licensing FAQs May 2009

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) How do I license Microsoft Office for use over Terminal Services?
A)You need a licence for each device that remotely accesses the application stored on the Terminal Server. As pre-installed
and boxed software licences don’t generally permit network use, Volume Licensing is the correct option. The licence used on the device which is doing the accessing must match the suite/edition, components, language, and version that is installed on the server.  For more information please click here.

Q) Can I reimage my PCs with a single Microsoft Windows Vista image?
A) Yes. If you bought under a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement, you can use Volume Licensing media to create a standard software image across multiple licensed devices. It doesn’t matter whether those devices are licensed under Volume Licensing, or if they’re running pre-installed or boxed software, but they must be licensed for Windows Vista Business or Ultimate. For more information click here.

Q) I am looking to deploy technology that allows multiple users to use a single device at the same time. Can I use a single Microsoft Windows licence for this?  
A) No. The software licence terms for the Windows desktop operating system don’t allow multiple users to access or use a licensed copy of the software simultaneously.

· Use models where multiple users simultaneously access a single licensed copy of the Windows operating system are considered mis-licensed

· Current licensing terms specify that each PC or device must have a unique licence to run Windows Vista or Windows XP

More information can be found here.

Q) I am using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 to manage my servers. How do I know if I need an Enterprise Management Licence (ML)?
A) A Standard ML is required when you are only managing basic server workload* and basic operating system utilities.

*Basic Server Workloads

§ Basic Operating System Utilities. System Resource Manager, Password Change Notification, Baseline Security Analyser, Reliability and Availability Services.

§ Storage/File/Print Servers. Print or file-sharing servers that run file transfer protocol (FTP), network file system (NFS), and Windows file sharing (SMB or CIFS).

§ Networking Servers. DHCP, DNS, WINS, or Radius servers. DHCP servers dynamically assign TCP/IP addresses and communication options, such as default gateways, subnet masks and routing tables. Naming servers, such as DNS and WINS, map TCP/IP addresses to friendly intranet- or internet-published names. RADIUS authenticates and monitors machine credentials to control the client network access privileges.

If you’re managing any server workloads or applications other than those listed above, you need an Enterprise Server Management Licence.  For more information click here.