Software Assurance Benefits for Intune

A PC with a Windows Intune subscription earns the same set of upgrade, virtualization, and other special use rights as does a Windows-licensed device covered by Software Assurance (SA). However, absent renewal, all these rights expire at the end of the Intune subscription whereas with SA, a few rights persist if a customer later lets their SA coverage lapse.

The six rights of interest to Intune customers are as follows:

Upgrade to new OS versions. For the duration of an Intune subscription, the customer has the ability to upgrade their licensed devices with the newest available Windows client OS software. For example, the Intune customer may upgrade a device from Windows Vista Professional to a business edition of Windows 7. If the Intune subscription is not renewed, the customer must restore the device to the version and edition of the OS in place before the Intune subscription started, in this case, Windows Vista Professional. This is unlike a SA subscription purchased with Windows in which the customer gets to keep the upgraded version when SA expires.