Windows Server 2003 Gets Per-User Licensing

Windows Server 2003 will usher in significant changes for Windows Client Access Licenses (CALs), including CALs used to access terminal services running on Windows Server 2003. Microsoft is introducing per-user licensing, making it easier to license Windows for use over the Internet, and phasing out free terminal-services access for recent desktop operating systems (OSs). The changes, which apply only to Windows Server 2003 and not to server applications, such as Exchange, will give customers additional licensing options and will relax some licensing restrictions, but knotty transition issues and unresolved questions, particularly with regard to terminal services, could lead to higher costs and administrative headaches for some customers.

The changes cover two distinct types of CALs. The first changes affect the Windows Server CAL, which gives a client PC the right to access most of the services on Windows Server. The second set of changes affect the separate Terminal Server (TS) CAL, which is required to access the Windows Terminal Server. This server is built into Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003, but the CALs are sold separately from those required to access Windows itself.