Monthly Microsoft News
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September 2008
Brought to you by En Pointe Technologies
Feature Article
Start planning now for Windows Vista--En Pointe can help!
Why wait to experience the benefits of Windows Vista? As a Microsoft Gold partner, we can make every aspect of your transition
seamless. Our comprehensive deployment services range from initial hardware and software assessment to implementation and
training. You may even qualify to receive complimentary* desktop deployment planning services. *If you have a Microsoft Software
Assurance maintenance plan, you may be eligible for
Desktop Deployment Planning Services, which provide from one to 15 days of
complimentary planning services.
With more than 88 million licenses already in the market, the Windows Vista® operating system is quickly replacing
Windows® XP as the operating system of choice. Now may be the right time for your organization too.
Regardless of whether you plan to deploy Windows Vista soon or some time in the future, you'll want to begin preparing for migration right away.
The Mojave Experiment is a focus group project Microsoft conducted recently to better understand
the reactions of customers to seeing Windows Vista – when they were not actually aware that it
was Windows Vista.
Through consumer focus groups, the
"Mojave Experiment"
demonstrated that consumers have a negative
perception of Windows Vista, based on what they have heard about it. However, when they see it for
themselves, without knowing it's Windows Vista, they have positive reactions to it!
Over the last few weeks, there have been some fascinating reactions to the "Mojave Experiment" across
the blogosphere. In order to more directly reach consumers with the "Mojave Experiment" story, Microsoft
has launched three new efforts, encouraging consumers to "Decide for yourself" about Windows Vista:
Explore Windows Vista through a series of webcasts, podcasts, and virtual labs and learn more about its functionality,
security features, and deployment best practices.
Tips and tricks
For Windows Vista 8 ways to save time with Windows Vista
Click here for more information on Window Vista
Windows Vista comes loaded with features to help save you time with tasks that you
perform regularly. Try these tips and see how much time you can save.
Improve your PC's performance by tweaking your hardware
Click here for more information
Learn how your hard drive and graphics card impact your system's performance, and dig deep under
the hood to discover and fix hardware issues.
Wait No Longer for Windows Vista SP1
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 addresses specific reliability and performance issues, supports new types of hardware,
and adds support for several emerging standards. It also addresses some management, deployment, and support challenges.
With yesterday's public release of Windows Vista SP1, IT professionals now have a couple options for updating their
Windows Vista machines. If you want to install the update immediately, it is available now in five languages via
Window Update or by going directly to the
Windows Download Center for standalone updates of both the
X86 and
X64 versions.
As before, TechNet subscribers can access the Windows Vista SP1 bits in
Top Subscriber Downloads. There they will find both
X86 and X64 standalone versions in the five released languages (English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish).
Subscribers can also download the
Windows Vista integrated with Service Pack 1 image.
For more on Windows Vista SP1, including the prerequisite packages you'll need before you update and details about
supported device drivers, visit the
Windows Vista Blog.
Finally, here are some resources to assist your Windows Vista SP1 upgrade:
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 is slated to be available on the October 1, 2008 Volume License price lists.
The licensing for Configuration Manager 2007 R2 remains consistent with System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and there
is similar pricing.
In general, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 pricing remains similar to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 pricing.
The licensing model for Configuration Manager 2007 R2 is also similar to Configuration Manager 2007 licensing.
Configuration Manager 2007 R2 includes five key features: applications virtualization support, client status reporting,
new Operating System Deployment server provisioning scenarios, SQL Reporting Services integration,
and integration with Forefront Client Security.
Application virtualization support
Integrates Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 distribution and streaming
technology into the release of Configuration Manager 2007 R2
Manage and deploy virtual applications alongside full installations, providing
a single enterprise backbone for managing and deploying physical and virtual applications
Maintain the dynamic nature of SoftGrid virtualization by providing version
checking, user-based targeting, streaming
Client Status Reporting
Built on key scenarios from the SMS 2003 client health tool
Summarizes key indicators of client activity to help
administrators monitor and maintain the health of their Configuration Manager clients
New Operating System Deployment Server Provisioning scenarios
Unknown computer support for bare metal deployments
Support for security elevation on Run Command
Line task sequence
Multicast of OS images via Windows Deployment Services – support for both ScheduleCast
and AutoCast
SQL Reporting Services (SRS) Integration
Manage, browse and run SRS Configuration Manager reports from the Configuration
Manager console
Forefront Client Security Integration
Reports of overall states of Forefront Client Security client through the existing
desired configuration management reporting infrastructure
Windows Essential Business Sever 2008 (EBS 2008) will launch on the November 2008 Volume License price list.
EBS 2008 is an enterprise-class server solution designed and priced for midsize businesses, integrating management,
messaging and security server technologies. By helping to improve IT manageability and reliability, EBS 2008 turns a midsize
IT infrastructure into a strategic asset, boosting productivity and growth.
EBS 2008 is the newest addition to Microsoft’s integrated server solutions family of products and will be available in November.
A couple of important licensing changes will occur in order to offer customers more flexibility in licensing and in most cases,
a more cost effective solution. EBS 2008 is licensed via Server/CAL model and will have 2 CAL suites (both with User and Device options)
and various quantities of CAL-packs (1-5-20-50 CAL packs) will be offered.
Introducing Windows Essential Business Server 2008
Windows Essential Business Sever 2008 (EBS 2008) is an enterprise-class server solution designed and priced for midsize businesses,
integrating management, messaging and security server technologies. By helping to improve IT manageability and reliability,
EBS 2008 turns a midsize IT infrastructure into a strategic asset, boosting productivity and growth.
Product Overview:
EBS 2008 has Standard Edition and a Premium Edition.
ESSENTIAL BUSINESS SERVER 2008
STANDARD EDITION
PREMIUM EDITION
Management Server
Messaging Server
Security Server
Database Server
Windows Server® 2008 Standard technologies
Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007
Windows Server 2008 Standard technologies
Microsoft Exchange Server® 2007 Standard Edition
Microsoft Forefront™ Security for Exchange Server3
Windows Server 2008 Standard technologies
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Medium Business Edition4
Windows Server 2008 Standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition
3 One year Microsoft Forefront Security
for Exchange Server subscription included in the product. 4 One year Web Antimalware Subscription for Forefront Threat Management Gateway,
Medium Business Edition included in product.
Standard Edition runs on up to three hardware servers; Premium Edition can be run on up to five hardware servers.
Designed for mid-sized businesses, both editions have a 300-user limit.
Licensing: What's New in Licensing that is applicable to Windows Essential Business Server 2008?
Microsoft is now offering two types of CALs to allow for the most flexibility for our customers:
EBS 2008 CAL Suite: For each user or device accessing the EBS network
EBS 2008 CAL Suite for Premium Users or Devices: For only those users or devices
accessing the premium features of EBS 2008 Premium Edition
In addition to offering two CAL Suites, Microsoft is also offering more CAL quantities to suit customer's
specific needs:
EBS 2008 CAL Suite: Available in 1, 5, 20 and 50 pack quantities for either User or Device
EBS 2008 CAL Suite for Premium Users or Devices: Available in 1, 5, 20 and 50 pack
quantities for either User or Device
Since Windows Server 2008 is part of the EBS 2008 solution, a common question occurs around virtual operating system
environments and what the associated licensing restrictions are.
Q: Does EBS 2008 licensing allow for virtualization? E.g. Windows Server 2008 Standard includes Hyper-V with a
license to run one server operating system in Hyper-V.
A:For EBS 2008 Standard Edition: you can run one instance of each of the management server software,
the security server software and the messaging server software in one physical or one virtual operating
system environment (OSE) on up to 3 servers at any one time.
For EBS 2008 Premium Edition: you can run one instance of each of the management server software,
the security server software, the messaging server software and 'premium server' software in one
physical or one virtual OSE on up to 5 servers at any one time. For the premium server software,
you can run an instance of Windows Server 2008 Standard on one physical and one virtual
operating system environment; AND if you run both of these instances, the instance on the
physical OSE may be used only to run hardware virtualization software, or provide
hardware virtualization services, or run software to manage and service OSEs on the licensed server
you can run any number of instances of SQL in one physical or one virtual operating
system environment and that operating system environment must be joined to the EBS domain
Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 is also part of the EBS 2008 solution and has some licensing details that are worth noting:
Q: There is a server management component to the EBS 2008 solution. How does the licensing work with respect to that
component? Does the EBS 2008 CAL cover the licensing requirement?
A: The Systems Center Essentials 2007 component of the EBS 2008 solution has two categories of management licenses –
server and client.
For the server management, the EBS 2008 CAL does not cover the management licensing requirement.
However, the EBS 2008 Standard Edition license includes twelve Server Management Licenses (SMLs) - ten for the customer’s
use and one for each of the messaging and the security servers. The EBS 2008 Premium Edition license includes fourteen or
fifteen SMLs, depending on the customer’s use of the premium software – ten SMLs for the customer’s use, one for each of the
messaging and the security servers, one or two SMLs for the fourth copy of Windows Server 2008 Standard, depending on whether
this copy is being run on a physical or virtual machine, and one for SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition.
For the client management, the EBS 2008 CAL does cover the management licensing requirement. Note that there may be
scenarios where a device may not access the server (therefore does not require an EBS 2008 CAL) but need to be managed and
therefore a client management license (CML) would be required (i.e. purchased separately) in order to be in compliance.
VL Programs:
EBS 2008 is available in the following VL Programs:
Open Business
Open Value
Open Value Subscription
Public Sector Programs that have Open programs
New way to Upgrade:
Microsoft recognizes the need to provide customers with an effective path to migrate out of their current solution as their
business needs change - whether that path is move within the Windows Essential Server Solutions (WESS) family of products
or to its standalone server products. With that in mind, Microsoft is introducing a new program that will support the
various customer scenarios who want to move to a different product solution.
Called the Solutions Pathway, it will offer a tiered discount that will be applicable to all mobility scenarios, i.e. into,
within and out of WESS family products and will replace previously offered upgrade/transition SKUs to achieve the same outcome.
Customers will be able to make the purchase easily from MS COM websites. By entering your product key, the system will
automatically validate and recognize what product you have and will provide the possible migration paths available to you.
It will also automatically calculate the appropriate discount, which ranges from xx%-yy%, depending on what changes you are making.
Note that the Solutions Pathway program is a separate program outside of volume licensing programs and does not include SA
step ups with the product upgrade.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) will be available on the October 2008 Volume License price list.
SBS 2008 is an integrated server solution that helps you protect your business data, increase productivity and present
a more professional image to your customers. By providing many of the features used by larger companies -- e-mail, an
Internet connectivity, internal Web sites, remote access, support for mobile devices, file and printer sharing, backup, and
restore -- SBS 2008 gives you the tools you need to help grow your business.
SBS 2008 has a Standard and Premium Edition and is to be RTM’d in August and available in October. With this release,
a couple of important licensing changes will occur in order to offer customers more flexibility in licensing and in most cases,
a more cost-effective solution. While still licensed via Server/CAL model, SBS 2008 will now have 2 CALs (both with User and
Device options) and more quantities of CAL-packs (1-5-20 CAL packs) will be offered.
New Version of Windows Small Business Server
SBS 2008 is an affordable, integrated server solution that helps customers protect their business data, increase productivity
and present a more professional image to their customers – giving them the tools they need to help grow their business capacity.
Available on October VL Price List, Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) is the next version of Microsoft’s popular
small business solution.
Product Overview:
SBS 2008 has Standard Edition and a Premium Edition.
SMALL BUSINESS SERVER 2008
STANDARD EDITION
PREMIUM EDITION
Designed for Small Business
Windows Server® 2008 Standard technologies
Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0
Windows Server Update Services 3.0
Microsoft Forefront™ Security for Exchange Server1, 2
Windows Live™ OneCare for Server1, 2
Integration with Office Live Small Business2
Line-of-Business Application Platform
Includes everything from Standard Edition, plus:
Windows Server 2008 Standard technologies for SBS Premium
Microsoft SQL Server® 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business
1 120 day trial included in product. 2 Windows Live OneCare for Server and Office Live Small Business are not available in all markets and languages; Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server is not available in all languages.
Standard Edition runs on one hardware server; Premium Edition can now be run on two hardware servers (this is a change from SBS 2003 R2) to allow for hardware separation for a LOB application.
Because SBS is designed for small business customers, both Editions have a 75-user limit.
Licensing:
SBS 2008 is consistent with previous versions in that it is licensed via Server/CAL model. However, some changes have occurred with this release.
What's New with Windows Small Business Server 2008 Licensing?
Unlike previously released versions of SBS where there was a common CAL for customers to purchase irrespective of which edition of the product they used, Microsoft is now offering two types of CALs to allow for the most flexibility for our customers:
SBS 2008 CAL Suite: For each user or device accessing the SBS network
SBS 2008 CAL Suite for Premium Users or Devices: For only those users or devices accessing the
premium features of SBS 2008 Premium Edition
In addition to offering two CAL Suites, Microsoft is also offering more CAL quantities to suit our
customer's specific needs:
SBS 2008 CAL Suite: Available in 1, 5, and 20 pack quantities for either User or Device
SBS 2008 CAL Suite for Premium Users or Devices: Available in 1, 5 and 20 pack quantities for
either User or Device
Since Windows Server 2008 is part of the SBS 2008 solution, a common question occurs around virtual
operating system environments and what the associated licensing restrictions are.
Q: Does SBS 2008 licensing allow for virtualization? E.g. Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
includes Hyper-V with a license to run one server operating system in Hyper-V.
A: For SBS 2008 Standard Edition, you may run one instance of the server software in either a physical or
virtual operating system environment (OSE), but not both.
For SBS 2008 Premium Edition, you can choose to run the 'premium server' software instance on a second server,
you can run an instance of Windows Server 2008 Standard technologies in one physical and one virtual
operating system environment (OSE) AND if you run both the instances, the instance on physical OSE
may be used only to run hardware virtualization software; provide hardware virtualization services;
or run software to manage and service operating system environments on the licensed server.
you can run any number of instances of SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business in one
physical or virtual machine and it must be joined to the SBS domain.
Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 is also part of the EBS 2008 solution and has some licensing
details that are worth noting:
Q: What are the licensing rights for the second Windows Server in SBS 2008 Premium Edition? Do you
allow virtual machines?
A: Yes. You are granted a 1+1 license similar to stand alone Windows Server Standard license – that is,
you may run one instance of the software in one physical and one virtual OSE. If you both the instances the
instance on the physical OSE may be used only to run hardware virtualization software; provide
hardware virtualization services; or run software to manage and service operating system environments on the
licensed server.
Licensing
Updates
Application Server License Mobility - New Volume License Rights
The new Volume License brief “Application Server License Mobility” is a key reference document that can help you governing new
rights available for certain Microsoft server products acquired through Volume Licensing.
To help you take advantage of virtualization technologies, Microsoft is updating its software licensing policies for server
applications. In 2005, Microsoft introduced licensing changes that permitted greater mobility of software. This latest set
of changes complement those 2005 enhancements, by allowing greater mobility of licenses across servers within data centers
and server farms. With the changes, both licenses and software can move more freely across servers in a server farm,
potentially reducing the number of licenses needed to support workloads. Effectively, the changes mean instead of counting
instances or processors and licensing by server, customers are able to count instances or processors and license
by server farm
This is accomplished by allowing customers to reassign licenses freely across servers within a server farm. The changes apply to
software licenses for certain server applications and all external connector (EC) licenses. In these cases, the limitation on
short-term (90 days or less) license reassignment is waived. This change does not apply to software licenses for the
Windows Server® operating system, Client Access Licenses (CALs), or Management Licenses (MLs). This change applies only to
licenses acquired under a Volume Licensing program. It does not apply to licenses acquired through retail sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Scenario A: Four instances of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (Per Processor) software running at the same time. Server farm
consists of 20 servers.
How many SQL Server 2008 Enterprise processor licenses do I need if I want to move the four running instances across all
servers on my server farm?
Server Farm
Figure 2
Servers
20
Physical Processors
80 (4 per server)
SQL Server Running Instances
4
Virtual Processors to Support SQL Server Instances
8 (2 per physical processor)
Under the old rule:
A license is assigned to a physical server and the license cannot be reassigned within 90 days of the
last assignment. If you want to move the four running instances across the 20 servers more frequently,
all servers must be licensed for SQL Server. Therefore, you would need eighty (80) SQL Server 2008
Enterprise processor licenses (one for each physical processor) for this server farm.
Under the new rule:
Because the new rule is based on the number of physical processors that support running instances of
software, depending on your deployment, you may need as few as four (4) processor licenses, or as many
as eight (8) licenses.
If only one physical processor supports each SQL Server running instance, you need one (1) processor license
for each running instance, for a total of four (4) licenses.
However, if two physical processors support each SQL Server running instance (each virtual processor uses a different physical
processor), you need two (2) processor licenses for each running instance, for a total of eight (8) licenses. If you are unable
to determine how many physical processors support the software running instances, you should use the approach explained in FAQ 8.
2. Scenario B: Four instances of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (Server/CAL) software running at the same time. Server
farm consists of 20 servers.
How many SQL Server 2008 Enterprise software licenses do I need if I want to move the four running instances across all servers
on my server farm?
Under the old rule:
A license is assigned to a physical server and the license cannot be reassigned within 90 days of the last assignment.
If you want to move the four running instances across the 20 servers more frequently, all servers must be licensed for SQL Server.
Therefore, you would need twenty (20) SQL Server Enterprise server licenses for this server farm.
Under the new rule:
You would need at most four (4) SQL Server 2008 Enterprise software licenses to move the four SQL Server running instances
to any server across the server farm as frequently as you need to.
However, if all four SQL Server instances run on a single physical server at all times, under SQL Server special
multi-instancing use rights, you would need only one software license.
3. Scenario C: Four instances of Exchange Server 2007 Standard (Server/CAL) software running at the same time.
Server farm consists of 20 servers.
How many Exchange Server 2007 Standard software licenses do I need if I want to move the four running instances across
all servers on my server farm?
Under the old rule:
A license is assigned to a physical server and the license cannot be reassigned within 90 days of the last assignment.
If you want to move the four running instances across the 20 servers more frequently, all servers must be
licensed for Exchange Server. Therefore, you would need twenty (20) Exchange Server software licenses for this server farm.
Under the new rule:
You need four (4) Exchange Server software licenses to move the four Exchange Server running instances across the server
farm as frequently as needed.
4. When I assign a SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (Server/CAL) software license to a server, I may run any number of instances
of the server software on that licensed server at any one time. With the new rule, does one SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL)
license permit me to run as many instances of the server software on my server farm as I need to?
No. With the new rule, you may reassign the SQL Server 2008 Enterprise software license as frequently as you need to, but the
instances may only run on as many servers as you have allocated licenses for. You may not run instances on more than one server
at one time under one SQL Server software license. In other words, if you want to move one of the running instances from the
licensed server to an unlicensed server on your server farm, you need to reassign the SQL Server software license to that other
server and move all of the running instances together to the new licensed server.
5. According to this new rule, a server farm consists of up to two data centers. What is a data center?
A data center houses servers and ancillary equipment typically used in a corporate computing environment. A data center can occupy a
building or multiple buildings, typically connected by a Local Area Network (LAN).
6. Can a server farm consist of three data centers?
No. A server farm consists of up to two data centers. If you have three data centers, you have to define which two will constitute
your server farm (in this example, "server farm A"). The licenses you assign to the servers in server farm A can be reassigned to
other servers in server farm A as frequently as you need to. Your third data center, the one that is not part of your server farm A,
can form part of a separate "server farm B." The licenses you assign to the servers in your server farm B can be reassigned to
other servers in server farm B as frequently as you need to. However, licenses cannot be reassigned from server farm A to server
farm B within 90 days of the last assignment.
7. Can I have a server farm spanning these time zones:
United States East Coast-United States West Coast: YES
United States-European Union: NO
Portugal-Finland (both European Union countries): YES
India-Japan: YES
European Union-India: NO (UTC time zones used as basis, not DST)
8. What if I want to take advantage of the licensing changes, but I cannot tell how many physical processors
my software instances use? How should I license?
If you cannot determine the number of physical processors your running software instances use, you should:
For any concurrently running software instances in virtual OSEs, assign a license to the servers in the server farm for each
virtual processor in those virtual OSEs. You should, however, disregard the statement in the product use rights that a virtual
processor is considered to have the same number of threads and cores as each of the underlying physical processors.
For any concurrently running software instances in physical OSEs, assign a license to the servers in the server farm for
each physical processor that is being used.
Referring back to Figure 1 above, if you cannot determine the number of physical processors supporting your instances
running in virtual OSEs, you should license six SQL Server 2008 Enterprise processor licenses.
9. I assigned an Exchange Server 2007 EC license to a server for external user access to an instance of Exchange Server software
running in a virtual OSE. Do I need to acquire a second EC license if I move the Exchange Server running instance to a different
server within the same server farm?
The 90-day reassignment rule no longer applies to EC licenses in a server farm. In this case, you may reassign the
Exchange Server 2007 EC license to the new server where the instance will run, as long as no other Exchange Server
instances require external user access running at the same time on the first server. If there are still Exchange Server 2007
instances that require external user access running on the first server, you need to assign an Exchange Server EC license to each server.
10. Does the new license mobility rule apply to licenses acquired using the Microsoft original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or
Full Packaged Product (FPP) channels?
No. The new license mobility rule currently applies only to licenses acquired through the Microsoft Volume Licensing channel.
Microsoft is pleased to announce “The Big Easy Offer 2.0”. The Big Easy Offer 2.0 covers most of the core Microsoft products and solutions. When you make a qualifying purchase, you will receive partner subsidy dollars to be used toward purchasing more products and services for a more complete solution.
Please refer to the information on Microsoft Incentives site at
http://www.MicrosoftIncentives.com/bigeasy.
Promotion Dates:
August 25, 2008 through December 31, 2008
Products Included:
Designer and Developer Tools (Microsoft Expression, Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio Team)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Forefront Security Products (ISA Server, Forefront Security for Exchange, Forefront Security
for SharePoint)
Microsoft Office Communications Server
Microsoft Office System (Small Business, Professional Plus, Enterprise)
Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Systems Center (Configuration Manager, Essentials)
Microsoft Windows Server System (Windows Server, Small Business Server)
Microsoft Volume Licensing Programs and License Agreement Types:
This promotion is available for the following Volume Licensing programs and license agreement types:
Open License: Corporate and Government (specific products)
Open Value: Corporate
Software Maintenance Options:
Software Assurance is required for this promotion.
Microsoft Software Assurance for Volume Licensing provides upgrades, new versions of software, and technical support to customers. Software Assurance benefits vary with each Volume Licensing program. In addition, server licenses come with benefits that are different from those for desktop licenses.
This offer has been extended until December 31, 2008.
As a limited time offer from February 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008, Open Value and Select customers are eligible to
acquire User Subscription Licenses (USLs), Device Subscription Licenses (DSLs), and Services Subscription Licenses (SSLs)
for Forefront Client Security at potential savings.
As a limited time offer from May 1, 2008 through October 31, 2008, Open Value, Select and Enterprise Agreement
customers are eligible to acquire per user and per device subscriptions for Forefront Security for Exchange Server
at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers with expiring subscription licenses for Antigen for Exchange.
As a limited time offer from August 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009, Open, Open Value, Select and Enterprise Agreement
customers are eligible to acquire Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) CAL 2007 with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer is available for Commercial and Government customers only.
As a limited time offer from March 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008, Select and Enterprise Agreement customers are
eligible to acquire Project Server 2007 CAL with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers purchasing at least 500 Project Server 2007 CALs in a single order,
and the discount is available only on a single order.
As a limited time offer from December 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008, Select customers are eligible to purchase SharePoint
(MOSS) Enterprise CAL 2007 with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers that are also purchasing equal quantities of PerformancePoint Server (PPS) CAL with
Software Assurance or ProClarity Desktop Professional 6.3 licenses with Software Assurance.
As a limited time offer from May 1, 2008 through October 31, 2008, Open, Open Value, Select and Enterprise Agreement
customers are eligible to acquire System Center Essentials 2007 server and client management licenses with Software
Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers that own a total of at least 50 Core CALs or System Center Configuration Manager 2007 client
management licenses with Software Assurance. Coverage must be active on qualifying Core CALs or System Center Configuration
Manager 2007 client management licenses at the time the System Center Essentials licenses are acquired. System Center Essentials 2007
client management licenses can be acquired under this offer up to the total number of Core CALs and System Center Configuration
Manager 2007 client management licenses with Software Assurance that the customer owns.
As a limited time offer from April 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008, Open, Open Value, Select and Enterprise Agreement
customers are eligible to acquire System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Workgroup Edition licenses and licenses with
Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer has been extended until September 30, 2008.
As a limited time offer from March 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008, Open Value customers are eligible to acquire Windows Server 2008
CAL with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer is available for Commercial and Government program customers only.
Policy
provides consistent and predictable guidelines for product
support availability at the time of product release and
throughout the product life. By understanding the product
support available, customers are better able to maximize
the management of their IT investments and strategically
plan for a successful IT future.
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#Support%20Lifecycle%20FAQs
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