Microsoft Licensing Primer
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
For DESKTOP there is only one option.
Actually there are two, OEM and FPP.
But for servers there are three, OEM, FPP and Volume/Open Licensing.
Can't you get Windows Desktop OS's through a volume license agreement?
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@coliver said:
Can't you get Windows Desktop OS's through a volume license agreement?
No
You can get VL ugprades, but no base desktop OSes.
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Now to really add confusion to the mix... you can purchase Software Assurance AND Upgrades to Desktop OSes through Volume/Open Licensing, but the base license itself can not be purchased through Volume/Open Licensing (though I think huge companies can purchase desktop OSes through Enterprise Agreement (EA), which would technically be another way to acquire Desktop OS Licenses).
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@coliver said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
For DESKTOP there is only one option.
Actually there are two, OEM and FPP.
But for servers there are three, OEM, FPP and Volume/Open Licensing.
Can't you get Windows Desktop OS's through a volume license agreement?
nope, only SA and upgrades.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
Can't you get Windows Desktop OS's through a volume license agreement?
No
You can get VL ugprades, but no base desktop OSes.
That's right thanks for correcting me.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Argh, why do these keep getting combined?
a) i like creating havoc
b) i am so learning -
Here is the really high level view. Until you get into very special cases you basically:
- Always get your desktop OS as OEM with the machine when you buy it. You don't buy desktop OSes.
- Always get your server OS from VL.
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So to refine this before moving on.
DESKTOP: you can only obtain a license through OEM or FPP
SERVER: you can obtain a license through OEM, FPP, or VL
Is that correctly separated, and correct?
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@scottalanmiller said:
Here is the really high level view. Until you get into very special cases you basically:
- Always get your desktop OS as OEM with the machine when you buy it. You don't buy desktop OSes.
- Always get your server OS from VL.
DESKTOP: When would you ever need to purchase a FPP? If you wanted to install another OS on a desktop that didn't already have that? For example if you licenses Vista on a machine, but wanted to wipe it and install Windows 10?
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@BRRABill said:
So to refine this before moving on.
DESKTOP: you can only obtain a license through OEM or FPP
SERVER: you can obtain a license through OEM, FPP, or VL
Is that correctly separated, and correct?
Correct.
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@BRRABill said:
DESKTOP: When would you ever need to purchase a FPP? If you wanted to install another OS on a desktop that didn't already have that?
When you have a machine that has no OEM license and you are willing to pay the premium for FPP to get the flexibility that it can provide. FPP is super rare.
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@BRRABill said:
For example if you licenses Vista on a machine, but wanted to wipe it and install Windows 10?
That would be a bizarre use case since you can buy a much cheaper upgrade license instead.
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Super rare. Got it.
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@Dashrender said:
@coliver said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
For DESKTOP there is only one option.
Actually there are two, OEM and FPP.
But for servers there are three, OEM, FPP and Volume/Open Licensing.
Can't you get Windows Desktop OS's through a volume license agreement?
nope, only SA and upgrades.
And imaging rights as part of the upgrade VL.
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@Jason said:
And imaging rights as part of the upgrade VL.
So that is my next question.
DESKTOP: What does VL licensing get you that's better than the straight OEM license?
DESKTOP: What do you need at a minimum to get VL? We discussed this before but I'd like to have it in this thread.
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@BRRABill said:
DESKTOP: What do you need at a minimum to get VL? We discussed this before but I'd like to have it in this thread.
This is not specific to desktop. You have to purchase 5 licenses at once via VL to get setup. They can be any 5 licenses. After that you can buy single licenses as needed.
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@JaredBusch said:
This is not specific to desktop. You have to purchase 5 licenses at once via VL to get setup. They can be any 5 licenses. After that you can buy single licenses as needed.
I think it might be specific to desktop since you can't buy license through VL for desktops. Isn't that correct?
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@BRRABill said:
@JaredBusch said:
This is not specific to desktop. You have to purchase 5 licenses at once via VL to get setup. They can be any 5 licenses. After that you can buy single licenses as needed.
I think it might be specific to desktop since you can't buy license through VL for desktops. Isn't that correct?
You are misunderstanding. You can buy desktop OS UPGRADE licensing via VL. The only purpose of this licensing of course if to reimage your machines. SO you only need to buy one of these.
But to get setup with VL, you have to buy 5 of any kind of license to get an initial VL agreement setup.
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If you already have a VL agreement, you can simply buy the single desktop OS upgrade license that you need to get imaging rights.
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Yeah, I am back to being confused.
OK, so let's say I just bought 10 new DELL Windows 10 machines (with an OEM license, of course). I want to be able to re-image these with a standard image, as has been suggested here on ML.
What do I need to do this? Perhaps real world examples are better.
