Technet Plus changed and Reduced number of Keys to 5

[smarteyeball]

And I bet that the overwhelming majority of Technet users here would vehemently disagree with this statement

And you would be right.

MS aren't stupid. They know full well that non-expiring 'evaluation' keys are just another source of revenue that would have been otherwise potentially been lost to piracy.

If they truly intended Technet keys to be used solely for evaluation purposes, then they would have been time bombed from the get go.

They are only back tracking now because of the prolific abuse.

Their methodology in handling the damage limitation is indeed in poor form however.

 

[merkat106]

I have the TechNet Professional (Retail) subscription. I just logged in and there is some truth in the OP post. Over half of the products have been reduced to 5, however, some products such as Windows Vista or Office Visio 2010 still allow 10.

And what happened to the Download and Product Key FAQ? Its not FAQs anymore.

 

[pparks1]

If they truly intended Technet keys to be used solely for evaluation purposes, then they would have been time bombed from the get go.

It's not necessarily for eval...but rather for testing...which is different from production/day-to-day use.

I've always felt that Technet should be there, and it should have non-expiring keys, but Technet should cost a ton more than it does. If a single retail copy of Windows 7 is $200 and a single retail copy of Office is $300-$400....then I don't see why you would necessarily get multiples of all of the products for a fee less than $1500 a year.

I've never understood why MS decided to have no requirements for purchase and then make it is super cheap to boot. Of course, that's going to create abuse. It's common sense. but like you said, "get all of the money you can" seems to be the goal. but I maintain, they should just lower the cost of the OS to the retail chains. Wonder how many more people would buy Windows 7 if the full retail price was $49.99 per machine that you wanted it on???

 

[mickey megabyte]

i was getting pretty worried reading the first few pages of this thread - but now it all sort of seems like good news to me in a way:

before, i thought i had 10 keys or activations - now i have 2x10 = 20 activations

i'm very happy to hear that installed keys don't expire and "de-activate".

it's all still a bit strange though...

 

[pparks1]

before, i thought i had 10 keys or activations - now i have 2x10 = 20 activations

Actually before, you had 10 keys with 10 activations...so 100 activations.

 

[mickey megabyte]

ah...

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

ah...

Better to not know eh mate?

 

[mickey megabyte]

i always like to know!

but i didn't know before about 10 activations per key.

so i've still got twice as many as i (mis)thought i had originally. (i'm trying to look on the bright side.)

20 is more than enough me anyway, luckily - but it's still a dastardly trick that m$ have pulled here, in the middle of a 'contract' or 'agreement' or whatever the legal nicety is...

 

[smarteyeball]

I've always felt that Technet should be there, and it should have non-expiring keys, but Technet should cost a ton more than it does. If a single retail copy of Windows 7 is $200 and a single retail copy of Office is $300-$400....then I don't see why you would necessarily get multiples of all of the products for a fee less than $1500 a year.

I've never understood why MS decided to have no requirements for purchase and then make it is super cheap to boot. Of course, that's going to create abuse. It's common sense. but like you said, "get all of the money you can" seems to be the goal.

Definitely. However, prior to the Seven hype juggernaut, Technet and it's plethora of benefits was by and large, somewhat of a secret from the masses.

But when MS 'accidentally' opened Technet for a day or two during the height of the 'beta leak period', many glimpsed the potential benefits of what a subscription would entail and as such, I'd wager Technet subscriptions exploded massively around the time of Sevens release.

But what may have been seen as a short-sighted boon to begin with, became quite a bane in the long run. For both MS and subscribers alike because of the abuse.

but I maintain, they should just lower the cost of the OS to the retail chains. Wonder how many more people would buy Windows 7 if the full retail price was $49.99 per machine that you wanted it on???

Their pricing structure has always been skew-if and ambiguous.

The fact they now offer multiple tiers of subscriptions with the lowest tier basically becoming a cheap 'family pack' alternative, it really does beggar belief that they maintain such a premium price at a retail level.

A lower initial home/business cost would see a much wider adoption and they'd still be raking in money hand over fist.

 

[pparks1]

Oh yes, sales of Technet always increase dramatically during a release year. There are lots of people here who currently have Technet and some who don't plan on renewing. Why? Because they got what they wanted and they have their keys. Some of us even asked for all 10 of the keys we were allowed and then stored them offsite. Why? So we could use them in the future on new machines and have them available when we let the Technet subscription lapse.

 

[24c]

Company X comes up with Plan A
People fold it, spindle it, mutilate it, and figure out how to get around it.

Company X come up with Plan A.1
People fold it, spindle it, mutilate it, and figure out how to get around it.

Company X comes up with Plan A.2
People fold it, spindle it, mutilate it, and figure out how to get around it.

Accept this, adapt to it, and move on down the road.

In the end, we each have to determine our own level of honsety.
In the end, there is no right way to do the wrong thing.

 

[Dave76]

Well put

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Sorry to belabour this point -- but it's NOT the change per se that is the problem BUT THEY CHANGED THE CONDITIONS AFTER I'D SIGNED THE DEAL.

That's what is WRONG WRONG WRONG.

If a deal is made it should be adhered to for the duration of the agreement however inconvenient for the company.

Existing suscribers should be left on the OLD system until their subscription runs out --simple --end of story.

While it probably IS in the tiny small print of conditions nobody ever reads its still a TOTALLY UNETHICAL WAY of doing business and a responsible company like Microsoft SHOULD behave with proper Corporate Governance instead of employing tactics that a 3rd World Corrupt African politician would be proud of.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[WindowsStar]

Hi there
I'd imagine Windows wont suddenly stop working at the end of the subscription year and you CAN get 10 activations per product so that's still 20 activations for 2 keys -- should be enough even for the most inveterate tester.

We really should blame the people who try and scrape a few extra dollars by flogging technet keys on ebay and elsewhere.

I really have NO problem with MS tightening up its anti piracy -- my gripe was with it CHANGING the whole ballgame for EXISTING suscribers without giving them ANY notice of an impending change.

Whatever the SCUMBAG lawyers say -- how would you feel if you paid an annual fee to an exclusive automobile renting club guranteeing you to a nice sexy BMW for yyy dollars. You could rent these for 10 times a year.

Now say WITHOUT ANY ANNOUNCEMENT AT ALL you suddenlly discover when you want to rent a BMW they say --well you've already used the facility 5 times as we have now changed the number of times the facility is available to 5 so that's it for the year or we now have changed the cars from BMW's to Honda Civics (sorry Honda drivers).

I don't think you'd be very pleased at all.

IMO MS while they have the RIGHT to do this they certainly haven't gone about it in any way at all that conveys ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER of NATURAL JUSTICE.

I'm belabouring this point only because the actual change itself won't cause ME any inconvenience whatsoever -- but I disklike the manner under which this change was done.

MS should REINSTATE the ORIGINAL policy for existing suscribers and send out a notice of CHANGED policy -- or at least give people the option of cancelling subscriptions with the appropriate refunds.

Of course there as there ALWAYS IS with big corporations will be a legal get out clause -- but here Natural Justice should take precedence over the tiny small print --
Now you can understand why I HATE COMMERCIAL LAWYERS AND THE WHOLE LEGAL PROCESS THAT OPERATES IN MOST COUNTRIES -- It discriminates against the small individual in favour of HUGE corporations.

Criminal Law and Human rights stuff is another issue BTW -- it's this whole type of Big company litigation etc that gets my goat.

Cheers
jimbo

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1

 

[WindowsStar]

Hi there
Sorry to belabour this point -- but it's NOT the change per se that is the problem BUT THEY CHANGED THE CONDITIONS AFTER I'D SIGNED THE DEAL.

That's what is WRONG WRONG WRONG.

If a deal is made it should be adhered to for the duration of the agreement however inconvenient for the company.

Existing suscribers should be left on the OLD system until their subscription runs out --simple --end of story.

While it probably IS in the tiny small print of conditions nobody ever reads its still a TOTALLY UNETHICAL WAY of doing business and a responsible company like Microsoft SHOULD behave with proper Corporate Governance instead of employing tactics that a 3rd World Corrupt African politician would be proud of.

Cheers
jimbo

More +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

I really have NO problem with MS tightening up its anti piracy -- my gripe was with it CHANGING the whole ballgame for EXISTING suscribers without giving them ANY notice of an impending change.

Hi Jimbo.

I am just curious, but how does changing the policy on the use of keys after a subscription has ended and how many keys you get from your subscription even remotely related to anti-piracy. In my eyes, piracy is when you do NOT pay for the product in question. When you do NOT give any profit to the developers, not when you save a few bucks by buying a TechNet subscription to have the keys. Microsoft still makes money, Microsoft still earns profit.

I do not intend to start a war, but there is no need to start on a warpath without even realizing what you are talking about. If I misinterpreted your comment then please forgive me and feel free to explain what you truly meant.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi Dark Nova gamer

points really are these

1) Nobody has any issue with MS wanting to tighten up on piracy and protect its "intellectual" property namely Windows 7 etc etc.

2) The use of the Software is still pretty liberal even with the new policy since each product can be activaated 10 times and will continue to function indefinitely.

So no Issue there -- and it IS well known that some Technet keys have been appearing on EBAY and Torrent sites.

3) and this is MY biggest gripe but doesn't seem to bother anyone is that they have CHANGED the conditions AFTER I SIGNED UP.

Now for me the actual usage difference won't affect me but the current system IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR. I probably would have signed up anyway even with the new system but CHANGING THE RULES HALF WAY THROUGH IMO is not on.

They should let existing suscribers stay with what they signed up for until the subscriptions run out and then its up to them whether they renew or not.

Incidentally it is EASIER to control piracy with a smaller number of keys since its easier to track to whom those keys were issued. By still allowing say 10 activations per key rather than ONE activation per key then the end user still has the convenience of the use of the product and its simpler for MS to keep a record of it.

I don't OBJECT to the change -- its probably a good idea anyway but DONT DO THIS BEFORE NOTIFYING EXISTING SUSCRIBERS ABOUT THIS AND THEN EITHER OFFER THEM A REFUND OR A NEW CONTRACT.

That's normal business practices in these situations if a drastic change needs to be made during the lifetime of a contract.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[kodi]

Hi Dark Nova gamer

points really are these

1) Nobody has any issue with MS wanting to tighten up on piracy and protect its "intellectual" property namely Windows 7 etc etc.

2) The use of the Software is still pretty liberal even with the new policy since each product can be activaated 10 times and will continue to function indefinitely.

So no Issue there -- and it IS well known that some Technet keys have been appearing on EBAY and Torrent sites.

3) and this is MY biggest gripe but doesn't seem to bother anyone is that they have CHANGED the conditions AFTER I SIGNED UP.

Now for me the actual usage difference won't affect me but the current system IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR. I probably would have signed up anyway even with the new system but CHANGING THE RULES HALF WAY THROUGH IMO is not on.

They should let existing suscribers stay with what they signed up for until the subscriptions run out and then its up to them whether they renew or not.

Incidentally it is EASIER to control piracy with a smaller number of keys since its easier to track to whom those keys were issued. By still allowing say 10 activations per key rather than ONE activation per key then the end user still has the convenience of the use of the product and its simpler for MS to keep a record of it.

I don't OBJECT to the change -- its probably a good idea anyway but DONT DO THIS BEFORE NOTIFYING EXISTING SUSCRIBERS ABOUT THIS AND THEN EITHER OFFER THEM A REFUND OR A NEW CONTRACT.

That's normal business practices in these situations if a drastic change needs to be made during the lifetime of a contract.

Cheers
jimbo

When I signed up i thought i had a contract with them for a set amount of product downloads and now they have reduced the amount I signed up for so the contract should be re negotiated.
If I signed up for a 12 month magazine subscription and after 3 months they told me that they were only going to give me 6 monthly issues there would be a problem but because Microsoft is so large and has no effective rival
they can get away with it.
Microsoft should adhere to the agreement

 

[jimbo45]

Hi Dark Nova gamer

points really are these

1) Nobody has any issue with MS wanting to tighten up on piracy and protect its "intellectual" property namely Windows 7 etc etc.

2) The use of the Software is still pretty liberal even with the new policy since each product can be activaated 10 times and will continue to function indefinitely.

So no Issue there -- and it IS well known that some Technet keys have been appearing on EBAY and Torrent sites.

3) and this is MY biggest gripe but doesn't seem to bother anyone is that they have CHANGED the conditions AFTER I SIGNED UP.

Now for me the actual usage difference won't affect me but the current system IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR. I probably would have signed up anyway even with the new system but CHANGING THE RULES HALF WAY THROUGH IMO is not on.

They should let existing suscribers stay with what they signed up for until the subscriptions run out and then its up to them whether they renew or not.

Incidentally it is EASIER to control piracy with a smaller number of keys since its easier to track to whom those keys were issued. By still allowing say 10 activations per key rather than ONE activation per key then the end user still has the convenience of the use of the product and its simpler for MS to keep a record of it.

I don't OBJECT to the change -- its probably a good idea anyway but DONT DO THIS BEFORE NOTIFYING EXISTING SUSCRIBERS ABOUT THIS AND THEN EITHER OFFER THEM A REFUND OR A NEW CONTRACT.

That's normal business practices in these situations if a drastic change needs to be made during the lifetime of a contract.

Cheers
jimbo

When I signed up i thought i had a contract with them for a set amount of product downloads and now they have reduced the amount I signed up for so the contract should be re negotiated.
If I signed up for a 12 month magazine subscription and after 3 months they told me that they were only going to give me 6 monthly issues there would be a problem but because Microsoft is so large and has no effective rival
they can get away with it.
Microsoft should adhere to the agreement

Thanks Brian -- AT LAST someone has understood what I'm on about.

Not about the value of the subscription (still pretty good BTW) but the fact it CHANGED during the subscription period WITHOUT ANY PRIOR WARNING OR NOTIFICATION.

It probably DOES say on the small print that they can do this but TO ALL SLEAZEBAG AND SCUMBAG LAWYERS OUT THERE whatever the "Legal terminology says" there is still a sense of "Natural Justice" and Justice must also be SEEN to be working which in this case it clearly isn't.

It also makes a bad precedent since how can you EVER trust a contract from a large organisation again if this is the way they behave.

Operating like this puts the whole concept of "contract law" between customer and service provider into disrepute.

I can imagine what would happen to me if I said I'll provide 25 of your staff with Lunch every day for 7 USD a day each. A month later I tell the company -- (or in fact I DON'T tell the company) I just tell the 13th person who comes in for Lunch --sorry we've just changed the conditions to only giving Lunch for 12 people.

This point should be rammed home again and again since it's almost the whole basis of Contract Law and any SENSIBLE sort of commercial trading.

Cheers
Jimbo

 

[bagavan]

will the keys expire after the subscription expires?