Microsoft Product Licensing Model

How to license software

Microsoft Product Licensing Model

As per Microsoft licensing framework, products are divided into three Product Pools.

Systems Pool covers all product line of Operating Systems available in Microsoft portfolio.
Server Pool covers all product line of all servers available in Microsoft portfolio.
Application Pool covers all software applications.

Systems Pool - Windows 7 Offerings

Before purchasing Microsoft Windows desktop licenses, users need to understand some key facts.
·         Desktop operating systems are licensed on per device basis; therefore each PC must have its own full Windows desktop license.
·         Under Volume Licensing programs, desktop operating system licenses are upgrade licenses only.
·         Note that A fully qualified base license must be pre-installed before you can put an upgrade on top.

A desktop upgrade license obtained through a Volume License program lives and dies on the PC to which it was first assigned. It cannot be transferred to another PC.

Once the license is assigned you may run a single instance of the desktop operating system on the licensed device.

Users licensing their PCs can take the opportunity to purchase SA, with some provisos. If the desktop operating system is purchased as FPP or OEM, SA must be purchased within 90 days of license purchase.

If the purchase is through a Volume Licensing program, SA must be purchased at the same time you buy the license.

Purchasing SA provides the right to install and run Windows 7 Enterprise in place of Windows 7 Professional, offering additional valuable features to help your users protect sensitive data, improve application compatibility, and simplify IT management and deployment

Application Pool, MS Office 2010 in Volume Licensing

It is the simplified product lineup in Office 2010, clear descriptions now make it easier for the users to choose the right product to meet their needs.

The Microsoft Office 2010 suites "ms office" available through Volume Licensing include Microsoft Office Standard 2010 and Microsoft Office Professional 2010. These Desktop applications are licensed per device in Volume Licensing. You may install more than one copy of Office on the licensed PC. Additionally, you may install any number of copies of any prior version of Office, or any prior component of Office on the licensed device.

Server Pool, Server Operating System.

Server operating systems, including Small Business Server and Windows Server 2008 Release 2, require a license for every running instance on the server. In the server operating system licensing model, users need to acquire a license for each instance of the server software they run on a server. That instance may run on a physical machine or on a virtual machine. Each user or device accessing the services of the server, directly or indirectly, requires a Client Access License, or CAL.