Technet Plus changed and Reduced number of Keys to 5

[24c]

Something sure seems to be changing with TechNet 'scripts. Our job is to wait patiently and see what the final results are and how they affect us.











OK - enough waiting....what's going on?

 

[Dave76]

They should state the change of policy as of xxx date, old rules apply to the previous subscription holders and then everyone can decide for themselves if they want to continue.

Changing the amount of keys in the middle of the night is not how most people would expect a large company to operate.

This is strange behavior.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi all
Anybody who's got in's to Microsoft can they please explain EXACTLY how the new policy works with regard to the following.

1) Nr of Keys available.
2) Permitted number of activations of EACH key
3) how long after end of subscription will product continue to work for.

For example if I decide 10 days before the end of a subscription that I want to test say Windsows Professional X-64 on some new hardware I've built myself is it reasonable that it will suddenly stop working after only 10 days.

Another issue is the whole question of Virtual Machines -- if you are testing W7 in a whole variety of Virtual machines with different Virtual hardware you can get asked for re-activation MANY times quite quickly.

IMO TWO sets of keys just wont be sufficient for that type of scenario -- unless of course the keys can be activated multiple times (like Windows 7 Enterprise of Office 2007 enterprise).

In any case a CHANGE of policy should have been made available to subscribers before it was suddenly and without warning foisted on to us.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[echrada]

I have just spoken to MS in London - I told them that I want to cancel my sub and want my money back as this is not what I signed up for. I was told that there is still 10 keys but only 2 at a time available. Then I was told the keys are still in perpetuity in other words it wont expire ever! The keys are also good for 10 activations.

They are supposed to send me an email to that effect. If I don't get an email I will cancel tomorrow morning. He did mention that there are lots of angry customers.

 

[24c]

I have just spoken to MS in London - I told them that I want to cancel my sub and want my money back as this is not what I signed up for. I was told that there is still 10 keys but only 2 at a time available. Then I was told the keys are still in perpetuity in other words it wont expire ever! The keys are also good for 10 activations.

They are supposed to send me an email to that effect. If I don't get an email I will cancel tomorrow morning. He did mention that there are lots of angry customers.

No way...............................

 

[echrada]

:roflmao:

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

I just spoke to a TechNet phone-person and he confirmed that the change is permanent.

 

[BCXtreme]

Why am I feeling like half their departments don't know what the others are doing?? I feel like this is going to be a website issue after all, and we're going to find out that the other MS departments were unaware of it!

BTW, what does "10 keys but only 2 at a time" mean?? Only two activations at once? Then why would they even bother giving you ten keys?

Considering that no two people at MS are giving the same answers, I think they're experiencing a failure to communicate ... maybe their inter-office memo system wacked out on them...

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

@BCXtreme, see my post above.

 

[echrada]

Just received this

Thank you for contacting us today with your query to the reduction of your TechNet subscription keys.



It is true that the amount of keys has been reduced from 10 to 5 (TechNet Professional) or 2 (TechNet Standard) for some products.



Still each key is valid for 10 activations, so there are at least 2x10 = 20 activations available.



The majority of products can even be used without activation for 30 or more days, so if you have to reinstall test environments frequently, you will always be able to do so.



We can also confirm that the keys that you have claimed during the active subscription time will still be visibile and usable after your subscription has ended.



Should you have any further queries please feel free to contact us.



Kind Regards,
Alex Schneider
Microsoft TechNet Program
[email protected]

 

[DocBrown]

Just checked mine. The Ultimate that I collected 10 keys originally show all 10 but say 10 /5. When I tried to get Starter, Home Basic, & Home Prem. I could only get 5 / 5 of each version.

 

[smarteyeball]

I let my sub lapse - this certainly doesn't inspire me to renew

 

[Dave76]

Found this thread on the Technet forum.

The official statement from the TechNet Product Management team is:

TechNet Subscriptions provide the earliest access to products for IT Professionals. The license doesn’t specify access to a specific number of product keys. The policy regarding volume of product keys allowed for the products that have key limits was set based on typical key volumes required for software evaluation in most IT Professional work situations.

The moderator jumps in with some answers about half way down.

No answer to the last question there, but echrada just answered it, Keys are still usable after the subscription has ended.

My sub ends tomorrow, was planning to renew, but now........not sure.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Actually I suspect that most people didn't realize that each product could be activated 10 times so there probably isn't TOO much difference from the old way -- actually it makes MORE sense to do it this way in any case.

My Windows Enterprise only allows 1 set of keys but it has "multiple or Unlimited" activations so no change there.

My gripe isn't with the POLICY per se but the CHANGE AFTER one had signed up to a subscription.

It technically makes NO difference to me but if I sign up for something I don't expect it to change half way through.

Actually all my keys have been reset to ZERO so I don't really care as I've got the old numbers (installed on various machines) and can get NEW ones.

I think a lot of people who might be complaining are those using the Software on a "semi permanent way" to install W7 on various machines in a family etc which is cheaper than buying a Family pack or multiple copies of W7.

THIS IS NOT the purpose of technet subscriptions. I use them a LOT because I'm doing a LOT of testing on Virtual machines etc etc.

As I said my gripe is the sudden change of policy WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION to existing suscribers even if in practice it won't make any difference.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

As I said my gripe is the sudden change of policy WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION to existing suscribers even if in practice it won't make any difference.

Cheers
jimbo

For once I actually agree with Jimbo. :shock:





That is the thing that is angering me, though I will continue to renew when necessary because I too do a lot of installs in VB and besides you still can't beat this deal even at only 5 keys.


The whole "in the middle of the night ... "

 

[echrada]

Why do the majority have to suffer for the minority? MS walking all over us. I don't think that anybody has to take it lying down.

 

[Tews]

I have all 10 of my keys, all of my TechNet programs backed up to an external drive, image file of all the base installs... the keys will continue to validate after expiration of the subscription .... life is good...

 

[Dave76]

That's the way it always seems to be, a few ruin it for the majority.

Searching today, it's being mentioned that a lot of TechNet keys have been sold by unscrupulous individuals, causing this reaction.

 

[myzr7]

As I said my gripe is the sudden change of policy WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION to existing suscribers even if in practice it won't make any difference.

Cheers
jimbo

For once I actually agree with Jimbo. :shock:





That is the thing that is angering me, though I will continue to renew when necessary because I too do a lot of installs in VB and besides you still can't beat this deal even at only 5 keys.


The whole "in the middle of the night ... "

I agree with Jimbo and Ted. Its like I told my boss one time "I don't like to be lied to or screwed with." And he said " well thats to bad " Right I don't work there anymore

 

[pparks1]

It really is disappointing that Microsoft decided to change this program overnight without any communication to it's customers.

However, if they were to announce it ahead of time...then all existing customers would have flocked to the website, retrieved every key they could and and then do whatever they wish with the keys. Thus, taking the existing problem and making it even worse.

The real problem as I see it, is that Microsoft stupidly sold these subscriptions to people who were not IT professionals, but rather just wanted to do as many installs as possible with the smallest amount of money. I don't doubt in any way that many people who subscribed, also gave away some of their keys to family members, friends, etc to use. And some, probably sold keys via eBay and other outlets.

So, while some will view Microsoft changing the count from 10 to 2, as a breach of contract...Microsoft could probably point the finger right back at the customer saying that the use of the software on their everyday machine does not constitute testing..but rather an attempt to gain a license at a reduced price and that the customer has also not held up their part of the bargain.

For me, when it comes to using software from MSDN or Technet for testing....it's rare for me to even activate the product at all. Having technet or MSDN just provides a clean location to get the software and with most software going 30+ days (or up to 120 days with rearm)...this is more than sufficient for me to complete whatever testing that it is that I am trying to do.

For example, let's say that I buy a new computer tomorrow...this computer is intended to be my web surfing, email reading and game playing box. Perhaps I take a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium from Technet and install it to the machine to ensure that everything is working properly and all hardware is supported. So, maybe over the course of a week or two..I load up a few things and verify that everything functions. At this point, I think the "right" thing to do...is to remove the Technet copy of the software....and instead purchase a standard retail license for Windows 7 Home Professional and install that software onto this machine....I used the Technet version to test....and I'm using the standard license to continue using the software perpetually for every day use. And I bet that the overwhelming majority of Technet users here would vehemently disagree with this statement in bold red and they would not want to spend more money on additional licensing.