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Additional Samples of Past Directions on Microsoft Content

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Microsoft Product Roadmap: An all-in-one product planning reference [ Description ]

Microsoft Licensing [ Description ]

Business Online Services Prices Drop (Nov. 16, 2009)
Microsoft has enhanced and cut the cost of many of its hosted services by 20% to 50%, which will improve their competitive position but affect partner compensation

CRM Online Update, Price Change (Nov. 16, 2009)
Dynamics CRM Online received a service update and new pricing in Nov. 2009

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 Available, Editions Announced (Nov. 2, 2009)
Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 is now available and the launch date and editions have been announced

Volume Licenses Available for Self-Hosting (Oct. 19, 2009)
Oct. 2009 changes to volume licensing include permitting ISVs to use such licenses to host their own applications and removal of the 30-day grace period for SA renewal when a volume agreement ends

Free Licenses, Support for Web Platform (Sep. 28, 2009)
The new WebsiteSpark program offers free software licenses, technical support, and other benefits to selected small Web development and design companies

Windows Server 2008 R2 Preserves Licensing (Sep. 21, 2009)
Windows Server 2008 R2 licensing models, product usage rules, the number of editions and differences between them, and product pricing remain almost identical to its predecessor

Terminal Services Licensing Changes (Sep. 21, 2009)
Licensing changes for Terminal Services, renamed Remote Desktop Services (RDS) in Windows Server 2008 R2, include new license nomenclature, merged licenses, price increases, and new licensing options

System Center Essentials Management Suite (Sep. 21, 2009)
A new licensing package available from Microsoft through OEMs combines systems management and virtualization software in a suite aimed at small to midsize businesses

Services Provider Licensing Updated (Sep. 21, 2009)
Changes to the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) give third-party hosters and ISVs more flexibility, lower prices, and a broader range of Microsoft products that they can host

Financing Provider Expands (Sep. 7, 2009)
Microsoft Financing has expanded its relationship with De Lage Landen Financial Services, a vendor financing provider, to cover more countries

Windows Anytime Upgrade in Windows 7 (Aug. 31, 2009)
Customers needing advanced features of Windows 7 may be able to use the Windows Anytime Upgrade to get a higher edition

Management Suite Licensing Changes (Aug. 24, 2009)
A second type of System Center Server Management Suite license differs in the number of virtual machines that can be managed on a server and whether licenses are allocated per-device or per-processor

New Enrollments Provide Broad Server Licensing (Aug. 24, 2009)
The Enrollment for Application Platform and Enrollment for Core Infrastructure are two approaches to broad server licensing for midmarket and enterprise customers

Windows 7 Upgrade Options Trimmed (Jul. 20, 2009)
Large organizations that buy new PCs in the second half of 2009 will need to purchase upgrades to get rights to Windows 7

Azure Pricing, Release Date Announced (Jul. 20, 2009)
Pricing for the Windows Azure Platform for cloud computing and a Nov. 2009 release date were announced in July 2009

Licensing for Microsoft Online Services (Jul. 6, 2009)
User Subscription Licenses and Subscription Services Licenses are used for Microsoft Online Services, but their integration with on-premise licenses is still a work in progress

Windows 7 Modifies License Rights (Jun. 22, 2009)
Some license rights will change in Windows 7, including the right to downgrade to Windows XP

Software Licensing Platform Relaunched (Jun. 22, 2009)
Software Licensing and Protection (SLP) Services, a service used by ISVs to prevent unauthorized application use and protect intellectual property, is being relaunched by start-up company InishTech

Software Rentals Legalized (May 4, 2009)
Rental rights could reduce piracy in emerging markets and give customers in all markets more flexibility in how they purchase hardware and software

Evaluating Software Assurance (May 4, 2009)
Software Assurance (SA), Microsoft's subscription-based software maintenance plan, provides product version updates, support, training, and various other benefits

Spread Payments, Discounts for Dynamics (May 4, 2009)
Dynamics customers can spread payments over three years with no interest charges through new licensing options announced in Apr. 2009

OS, Enterprise Licenses and Upgrades Heavily Discounted (Apr. 20, 2009)
Responding to sagging markets, Microsoft is offering a broad variety of discounts on business licenses

Looking Ahead to Licensing Windows 7 (Mar. 23, 2009)
Customers planning upgrades to Windows 7 can take steps today, such as purchasing Software Assurance upgrade rights on new PCs, that can reduce the total cost of upgrading

New Volume Pricing Planned for Midmarket (Feb. 23, 2009)
New pricing for Open Value will make it easier for midmarket customers to enjoy the deep discounts of Enterprise Agreements, without abandoning their current resellers

Fee Changes Push LARs to Midmarket (Feb. 23, 2009)
Changes to fees earned by Large Account Resellers (LARs) indicate Microsoft's growing concern about the LAR channel and Enterprise Agreements, but could have a negative effect on the resellers

Windows 7 Editions Announced (Feb. 9, 2009)
Windows 7 will have as many editions as Vista, but each higher edition will be a superset of the next-lower edition, eliminating one point of confusion, and Microsoft's marketing will focus on only three editions

Agreement Licenses Servers Enterprisewide (Jan. 26, 2009)
The Application Platform Agreement (APA), a little-known licensing option now being offered to more customers, can help large organizations budget for Microsoft platform servers, including SQL Server

OS License Change Aids Consolidation (Jan. 19, 2009)
Windows Server 2008 Client Access Licenses (CALs) are no longer automatically required whenever Windows Server 2008 is used to host virtual machines

Changing Demands on Large Account Resellers (Nov. 17, 2008)
Pressure from Microsoft and the shift to online services sold directly to customers or through a broad range of partners are squeezing Microsoft's Large Account Resellers(LARs)

Software Licensing Platform Discontinued (Oct. 27, 2008)
Software Licensing and Protection (SLP) Services, a service used by third-party ISVs to prevent unauthorized application use and protect intellectual property, is being discontinued

Open Plans Support Tactical Buying (Oct. 20, 2008)
Open volume licensing plans are aimed at smaller customers, although they can be used by enterprises and have become more complex over time

New Packaged Services for SA (Oct. 13, 2008)
Consulting services focused on Exchange deployments and 'business value' have been added to the list of Packaged Services available with Software Assurance

New Virtualized Desktop Scenarios Licensed (Oct. 6, 2008)
Starting in Jan. 2009, Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) subscriptions will provide an officially sanctioned way to license a greater variety of virtualization scenarios than is possible today

Server OS Rules Limit Virtualization Options (Sep. 22, 2008)
New rules affecting the mobility of virtual machines within a data center could have an impact on how data centers are designed

Licensing Windows Server (Sep. 15, 2008)
OS server licenses come in several editions, and the precise licensing model and rights granted vary by edition--especially related to hardware virtualization

Evaluating Enterprise Agreements (Aug. 18, 2008)
An Enterprise Agreement eases desktop license management and offers great discounts, but is not best for every company and requires careful analysis

Server Virtualization Rules Relaxed (Aug. 18, 2008)
Changes to virtualization licensing rules will make it much easier to create dynamic and automated data centers, although the rules don't apply to all Microsoft products

Licensing the Windows Client (Aug. 18, 2008)
Outlines the licenses and subscriptions organizations must acquire from Microsoft to provide a Windows desktop to users under the most common desktop architectural scenarios

Partners Get Commissions on Microsoft-Hosted Services (Jul. 21, 2008)
Outlines the monthly per-user prices for Microsoft-hosted services: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Server Online, and Live Meeting

Select Plus Eases License Management (Jul. 7, 2008)
Select Plus, a new volume licensing program based on the longstanding Select program, makes it easier for large customers to manage multiple agreements, but introduces new variables in purchase planning

Pooling, Multiplexing Changes Complicate Upgrades (May 26, 2008)
Licensing rules for multiplexing and pooling, technologies that can reduce the number of users directly accessing Microsoft servers, are complex and in some cases undocumented

Deployment Planning Benefits Modified (Apr. 21, 2008)
The number of deployment planning days has increased for customers who purchase Software Assurance on desktop applications and Client Access Licenses

Retail Vista Price Reductions (Mar. 10, 2008)
The price for stand-alone consumer versions of Windows Vista will decrease when SP1 enters the retail channel, but as OEMs sell the most licenses, the effect will be muted

Pre-Owned Licenses for Transfer (Mar. 10, 2008)
A new approach to transferring licenses gets around Microsoft rules prohibiting the resale of volume licenses and could open a substantial market for pre-owned licenses

Vista Home Virtualization Permitted (Feb. 25, 2008)
An ongoing debate about virtualization with consumer versions of Vista finally gets resolved with a decision to permit it

CRM 4.0 Updates Licensing, Pricing (Feb. 25, 2008)
CRM 4.0 prices are unchanged for organizations supporting more than 75 users, but Microsoft has eliminated the low-cost CRM edition aimed at customers with less than 75 users

CRM Prices Drop for Hosters (Feb. 25, 2008)
A price cut in CRM 4.0 reduces operating costs for hosting partners, but the introduction of CRM Live, Microsoft's cut-rate customer relationship management service, adds another challenge

Licenses Push Unified Communications Marketing (Feb. 18, 2008)
Product licensing plays a key role in Microsoft's sales and marketing strategy for its unified communications product set

Open License Subscriptions Available (Jan. 21, 2008)
A new subscription software plan for small customers could preserve cash flow and encourage them to buy more Microsoft software

Windows Server 2008 Packaging, Licensing, Pricing (Jan. 21, 2008)
The most commonly sold packages of Windows Server 2008 will include Hyper-V virtualization technology, and a new virtualization product will also make the technology available stand-alone

Campus and School Agreements Amended (Dec. 17, 2007)
Academic subscription licensing has been updated to give institutions more flexibility

Vista Enterprise Options Reduced (Nov. 19, 2007)
Virtualization on Blade PCs is all but prohibited, and the right to swap Vista Enterprise for Ultimate is curtailed

VS Source Code, Licensing Changes (Nov. 12, 2007)
Changes in the license terms for the Visual Studio IDE, along with read-only access to the source code, could help partners build add-ons

Configuration Manager Licenses More Costly, Restrictive (Oct. 22, 2007)
Configuration Manager 2007 splits the management licenses for servers into Standard and Enterprise versions, requires virtual machines to be licensed separately, and fills out management licensing suites

Management Costs Rise for Virtual Machines (Oct. 22, 2007)
Management tools, such as Operations Manager and Configuration Manager, will now be licensed per operating system environment rather than per device, substantially raising prices for virtualized systems

Licensing Contract, Rules (Oct. 8, 2007)
Volume licensing contracts are getting shorter, and multiple Web sites for license management will be consolidated

SA Becoming General-Purpose Subscription Service (Aug. 20, 2007)
Software Assurance, introduced as an upgrade rights program in 2001, has evolved into a broader maintenance program, and is now becoming a license to license other Microsoft software and services

Communications Server 2007 Packaging, Licensing, Pricing (Aug. 13, 2007)
Details the various server licenses and Client Access Licenses (CALs) required to implement a real-time communications system built on Office Communications Server 2007 and Communicator 2007

CRM Service Pricing, Schedule (Jul. 23, 2007)
Dynamics Live CRM, an online customer relationship management service from Microsoft, will be available commercially in early 2008

Vista Virtualization Change Reversed (Jul. 16, 2007)
On the verge of relaxing virtualization rules for the use of Windows Vista in virtual machines, Microsoft changed course

Forefront Client Security Subscription Licensing (Jun. 25, 2007)
Forefront Client Security uses a subscription rather than a perpetual license, and customers should be aware of the full costs and commitments of subscription licensing

Desktop Use Rights Expanded (May 21, 2007)
Volume customers can now install Microsoft's desktop applications multiple times on the same device, making it much easier for organizations to use desktop virtualization

Operations Manager 2007 Packaging, Licensing, Pricing (May 21, 2007)
Although the cost of monitoring server machines with Operations Manager 2007 remains about the same, there is a huge price break for monitoring devices that run nonserver OSs

Virtualization Licensing Adapts to New Challenges (May 21, 2007)
Significant changes to licensing of Microsoft software in virtual machines will help customers adopt virtualization technologies, although licensing and technical challenges remain

New License for Dynamics Snap, Portal Applications (May 14, 2007)
A new license plan will lower the cost of deploying Snap and portal applications for Dynamics AX but could increase the cost of the other Dynamics portal applications

New Licensing Options for Desktop OS (Apr. 23, 2007)
Changes to Windows OS licensing reflect new deployment technologies, including use of network and virtual OS images

Licensing Advisor Updated (Feb. 26, 2007)
The Product Licensing Advisor, Microsoft's main pricing site for volume customers, gains additional features aimed at sales and promotion

Enterprise CAL Suite Reduces Complexity, at a Price (Jan. 29, 2007)
The Enterprise CAL Suite will help customers buy a plethora of new server licenses, but it also marks an era of increasing costs for the latest Microsoft technologies

Office UI Licenses Available (Dec. 18, 2006)
Developers who want to make applications that look like Office 2007 can get a free license from Microsoft, but it provides no code-only the rights to use Microsoft's patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property

Dynamics ERP Licensing for Hosters (Dec. 18, 2006)
New licensing rules will make Microsoft's ERP applications available to hosting services providers on a subscription basis, but the company has not said it will host those applications itself

Exchange 2007 Packaging, Licensing, and Pricing (Dec. 4, 2006)
Feature differences between the Standard and Enterprise Editions of Exchange Server 2007 as well as the Standard CAL and Enterprise CAL; pricing and other details for these licenses

Vista EULA Revised (Nov. 20, 2006)
Rules that restricted the transfer of retail Vista licenses to new machines have been modified, following an outcry from hardware enthusiasts

Product Activation Comes to Business (Nov. 6, 2006)
To stop pirates from using misappropriated volume license keys to circumvent Windows activation, all customers—including volume license customers—will have to activate Windows Vista and Longhorn Server

Desktop Management Applications Become Subscriptions (Oct. 23, 2006)
Desktop utilities acquired through several 2006 acquisitions—AssetMetrix, DesktopStandard, Softricity, and Winternals—will be available only to Software Assurance customers and only as the Desktop Optimization Pack

Dynamics Licensing Plan Tweaked (Oct. 16, 2006)
Minor updates to Business Ready Licensing, the packaging plan for Dynamics enterprise resource planning products, increase volume discounts on client licenses and add functionality to the plan's entry-level package

Software Asset Management Makes Waves (Sep. 11, 2006)
Pushing software asset management engagements on customers who may not be compliant with Microsoft licensing rules has had mixed results

New Dynamics Licensing Includes Free CRM (Aug. 21, 2006)
Business Ready Licensing eliminates per-module Dynamics pricing and simplifies the Enhancement Plan maintenance contract, but customers may find themselves licensing Dynamics modules that they do not need

SA Supports Legacy Hardware (Jul. 31, 2006)
A slimmed-down edition of Windows XP is now available for Software Assurance customers to extend the life of their legacy hardware

Management Licenses Modified, Bundled (Apr. 24, 2006)
The license required for devices managed by Microsoft Operations Manager has been split into Standard and Enterprise Editions, and a new licensing bundle combines device licenses for several management servers

New Software Assurance Benefits Rolled Out (Apr. 3, 2006)
Software Assurance benefits get another boost, with better technical support and new desktop deployment planning services

Client Access Licenses Split Server Features (Feb. 20, 2006)
Customers will require more than one CAL to access the full feature set of some Microsoft servers, complicating customers' choices and possibly raising prices

License Advisor Updated (Feb. 20, 2006)
An online product licensing guide has been updated to include more countries, more volume licensing programs, and links to product use rights

Microsoft OrgChart: Diagrams top 700+ Microsoft executives [ Description ]

Research: In-depth reports on key Microsoft technologies and initiatives [ Description ]

Update: Timely analysis of the latest Microsoft news [ Description ]

Table of Contents Sample Articles
November 2008 Windows Successor Requires Additional Research
SQL Server 2008 Improves Auditing, Change Tracking
October 2008 Licensing Windows Server
Windows Campaign Focuses on Hardware, Retail
September 2008 Evaluating Enterprise Agreements
Five Businesses Plan for FY'09
August 2008 Partners Get Commissions on Microsoft-Hosted Services
Asset Inventory Service Aids License Management
July 2008 Software Plus Services and Developers
Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Supports Hyper-V
June 2008 Systems Management Product Roadmap
Pooling, Multiplexing Changes Complicate Upgrades
May 2008 Application Compatibility May Slow Server Adoption
Advertising Group Focuses Beyond Search
April 2008 Online Business Services Aim at Broad Market
Management, Security Products Need Updates for New OS
March 2008 ASP.NET Extensions Previewed
Yahoo Acquisition Proposed
February 2008 Windows Server 2008 Packaging, Licensing, Pricing
Raikes Retiring from Business Division
January 2008 Putting the 'Windows' in Windows Live
Partner Labs Tighten Relationships
December 2007 Windows Server 2008 Controls Network Access
Solution Plans Define Enterprise Partner Relationships
November 2007 Management Costs Rise for Virtual Machines
Free Online Collaboration Service Planned
October 2007 Windows Server, Service Packs Due in 2008
EU Appeal Fails and Other Legal News
September 2007 Early Adoption Programs Aid Product Development
Five Businesses Steady into FY'08
August 2007 Visual Studio 2008: A First Look
Optimization Model Structures Sales Efforts
July 2007 Windows Media Platform Less Strategic
Managed Services Strategy Broadens
June 2007 System Center Product Roadmap
Operations Manager 2007 Packaging, Licensing, Pricing
May 2007 Next Windows Server Takes Shape
Dynamics Consolidation Plans Intact
April 2007 SharePoint 2007 Tweaks Portals, Administration
Digital Media Advances in Vista
March 2007 SharePoint 2007 Improves Enterprise Search
Exchange Gets Developer Overhaul
February 2007 Exchange 2007 Assists Regulatory Compliance
Focus Moves Beyond PC at CES 2007
January 2007 New File Formats in Office 2007
Office Live Offers Simple Collaboration, Applications