There’s a new (October 2020) Microsoft Licensing Brief to help you to answer questions around Windows 10 Qualifying Operating Systems.
Note though, that it’s not yet updated for the changes that were made to page 42 of the November 2020 Product Terms whereby Windows 10 Home licences are now qualifying licences for academic customers buying through CSP.
Find this document here: https://bit.ly/38xPnPR.
Azure Monetary Commitment is the upfront payment an Enterprise Agreement customer makes for use of the Azure consumption services, which is then decremented on a monthly basis as the services are used. This is now renamed to Azure prepayment but there are no other changes in terms of how it works. Find the Azure prepayment section starting on page 53 of the July 2020 Product Terms, and download the document itself here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.
The June 2020 Product Terms contains an amendment to the definition of Firstline Worker devices. A Firstline Worker is typically someone whose job is primarily based away from a PC – think construction worker or doctor – but they do need some access to technology.
Rules for assigning Office 365 F3 and Microsoft 365 F1/F3 licences (the Firstline Worker plans) are based on the user’s primary device. Prior to June 2020, a Firstline Worker was not allowed to have a Dedicated Device – a computing device with a screen of 10.1″ or larger used by the user for more than 60% of their total work time in any 90-day period.
It’s simpler from June 2020 – the user’s primary device must have a single screen smaller than 10.1″ OR they must share their primary device with other qualifying Firstline Workers.
Find the rules on page 58 of the June 2020 Product Terms and find the Product Terms document itself here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.
Microsoft announce that a 5-year Reservation is now available for the Azure HBv2 virtual machine. The existing 1 and 3-year Reservations give an estimated 25% and 50% saving on the compute costs of the VM, and the new 5-year Reservation increases savings to approximately 67%.
The announcement (https://bit.ly/32EWfI9) states that terms and conditions are mostly the same as for all other types of Reserved Instances, and page 54 of the July 2020 Product Terms confirms that the early termination fee for a 5-year Reservation is 35%, rather than the usual 12%.
There’s extra information added for Dynamics 365 on pages 65/66 in the June 2020 Product Terms document. First of all there’s a new Dual Use Rights table detailing the rights of Dynamics 365 SLs to access on-premises servers, and then there are a couple of tables which specify the purchasing minimums for academic and commercial programs.
Download the latest Product Terms document here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.
The May 2020 Product Terms is updated with clarification on how to license SQL Server running within a container. Essentially, the container is considered to be a virtual machine and the usual licensing rules apply. Find the text on page 30 and the latest Product Terms document here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.
The May 2020 Product Terms is updated for the retirement of the Windows Thin PC SA benefit corresponding to the end of support for Windows 7. Find the relevant text on page 6 and download the latest Product Terms document here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.
The Microsoft Customer Agreement now governs a customer’s purchases through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, replacing the Microsoft Cloud Agreement, and the April 2020 Product Terms document is updated to reflect this. So, for example, on page 60 it’s stated that rights to install Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business Server are included with a Microsoft 365 E3/E5 User SL, but NOT if these licences have been acquired under the Microsoft Cloud Agreement or Microsoft Customer Agreement.
Find the Product Terms documents here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.
Microsoft announce that special discounts are now available for Windows Virtual Desktop used within an Azure dev/test Subscription. Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/2K0C6Sg. There’s also language added to page 56 of the April 2020 Product Terms document detailing the use rights of Windows Virtual Desktop in dev/test environments. Find the Product Terms documents here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.
Azure Information Protection Plan 2 is being discontinued as a standalone offering. Page 6 of the April 2020 Product Terms document confirms that existing customers will continue to have access to the service for the term of their Subscription, and customers with true-up rights will continue to have the option to true-up for the term of their Enrolment. Find the Product Terms documents here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.