Help with Technet subscription

Sorry to double post, but one other thing i find a little off in the UK, is if you order anything direct from Microsoft; in this case technet you get charged the Irish VAT amount at something like 21%.

Bad enough when we buy online in cyberspace we have to pay VAT but hell we shouldn't have to pay irish VAT.

DataMan47 said:

Even MSDN, which has a much less restrictive license term than TechNet (you can use a MSDN license on any sort of system, as long as it's for devel/design/testing/demonstration), spells out the restrictions on home use pretty clearly:



Basically, what johngalt is suggesting falls into this dual-use category: you may be "evaluating" the system, but you are also using it for other tasks, and if you continue to do so, then you will need an additional license for that.

Of course, MSFT never enforces this, so a lot of (most?) people use TechNet or MSDN like this. But technically they would all be violation of the license.

The fact is a Technet subscription is for a year not 30 days and at the end of the day provided it is being used on your own machines, maybe in your own home and not doing any kind of business on said machines appart from examining for example how other software reacts with the software you are using, even if it is typing out a letter for your own use, i see this as well within M$ agreed limits.

Anyway what have we all been doing for the last year testing windows 7?
Or are we all breaking the law? lol

pparks1 said:

Please do call them and ask them about it. Tell them that instead of buying 2 copies of Windows 7 and installing them on 2 workstations at home that you instead plan to buy 1 subscription to Technet and use that software instead because it's cheaper and you get all of this other software that you can use as well.

Please let us know exactly what they tell you.

What you are doing is not evaluating software. Evaluating software is trying it out for 30 days and seeing whether it meets your needs and then purchasing the required licenses if you plan to continue using it going forward.

Umm, check your premises again. Even the Technet site states:

Evaluate.

Full-version software with no time limits.
Evaluate full-version commercial software products like Windows 7 Release Candidate without time or feature limits, including these titles:

As you just said, evaluation is for limited time - but they advertise unlimited time. And as I have previously noted, I *am* evaluating software all the time - I beta test for Malwarebytes, I run litmus tests on nightly builds of Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird, and numerous other software as they becomes available, both officially and unofficially. Not to mention, I report my experiences not only to those websites as well as here, but to my University's IT department as well, which is still deploying XP system wide, and only dealing with Vista when faculty and staff circumvent the system and purchase their own machines.

Furthermore, the second machine I am installing it on is my laptop, which is also a testing machine as opposed to a live machine, in that I don't do any commercial work on it at all. In fact, everything it is school related, whether classwork or work.

Again, I am testing this for future use. When my sister buys a new machine, she gets her own copy of W7, not mine. When my parents' machine stops working with the R, they get a retail license of the OS.

My technet is for me and my evaluation alone. just because I use the OS as my primary (and only) OS does not make me in violation of the terms.

DataMan47 said:

Even MSDN, which has a much less restrictive license term than TechNet (you can use a MSDN license on live systems, as long as it's for devel/design/testing/demonstration), spells out the restrictions on home use pretty clearly:



Of course, MSFT never enforces this, so a lot of (most?) people use TechNet or MSDN like this. But technically they would all be violation of the license.

Technically speaking, though, most of us are in violation of the OS in some manner or format. TBH, I am not continuing this discussion until I have consulted with M$ further to ascertain what their take is in the situation - but the way I read the license info what I do in terms of testing and reporting falls well within the limits of the license and EULA.

DataMan47 said:

Even MSDN, which has a much less restrictive license term than TechNet (you can use a MSDN license on any sort of system, as long as it's for devel/design/testing/demonstration), spells out the restrictions on home use pretty clearly:



Basically, what johngalt is suggesting falls into this dual-use category: you may be "evaluating" the system, but you are also using it for other tasks, and if you continue to do so, then you will need an additional license for that.

Of course, MSFT never enforces this, so a lot of (most?) people use TechNet or MSDN like this. But technically they would all be violation of the license.

It is what I call an "Insurance Policy". Microsoft lets you use the software like a full product without saying anything to you...unless some type of complaint or what is filed against them by one of these users. They can then use their "Insurance Policy" to keep themselves without liability

pparks1 said:

30 days was just an example. While it is true that Technet is for a year...it's also a true that if you don't renew your Technet subscription at the end of that year...that you have to end your usage of the "eval software completely"

To me the licensing agreement is very clear, not fuzzy, gray or otherwise.
The rep that I spoke with at Microsoft when I had my MSDN subscription agreed with me, that it's not for use on a workstation at home for daily use.



No, Microsoft provided this software to us and hardcoded a 2010 expiration into it so we cannot continue to evaluate or activate it past a certain point.

Thanks for taking this so seriously and checking with Microsoft on the issue. I think a few people might be surprised at what you find out.

I mean we can all twist up our use of how we use our computer. I mean I constantly use virtual machine software to constantly test out new OS's and the like for my own personal knowledge and for being a better systems admin, I install a lot of beta software and re-install my OS's on a very regular basis. But I'm not trying to convince anybody that what I am doing is evaluating my OS software to provide recommendations to others.

It seems very clear to me that the whole point behind this debate was that instead of buying 2 legit copies of the OS, people should use this method instead. This wasn't mentioned as a way to evaluate anything, but rather a method of saving money. Big difference.

Their definition of evaluation and how it pertains to home use is invalid then...if I am about to buy a new product than I want to test it out to see if it fits my needs...by their definition I would have to use the OS in such as a machine I turn on...boot an app...if it works great...and then turn it off. When I evaluate something I want to run it like a normal OS everyday and see how the product reacts. If it runs to my satisifcation...than I would be glad to buy it. Based on their statement I would never buy a technet subscription just to be limited in how I evaluate the product

Antman said:

Perhaps one could evaluate whether or not the software suits long term needs and to contemporaneously ascertain if the software develops any operational failures during the life cycle of support.

You are right...by the definition of evaluation that would be appropriate. Microsoft's definition and philosophy here is to "buy our subscription and evaluate the software...just evaluate it how WE want you too". Actually the fact they charge for someone to evaluate their product to make it better is a tragedy in itself...if the technet/MSDN products ever expired I wouldn't blame people for suing the hell out of them