Category: Microsoft

This category is for anything Microsoft related-so you’ll probably find that msot posts end up in here!

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Office RT Commercialization Licenses


Microsoft RT devices all come with a copy of Office 2013 Home & Student which, as you may well have seen now, cannot be used for “commercial purposes”. Microsoft mentioned that a “commercialization license” would become available…I expected it in November but can confirm that it is now here. From the December Select Plus price file:

OffHomeandStdntRT 2013 SNGL MVL

@ roughly £45 (ex VAT) per license.

Purchasing this license will allow staff to use the edition of Office on their RT tablet for work, such as creating PowerPoints, working with spreadsheets, managing OneNote workbooks etc.

However, if the user has a license of Office 2013 (via VL or Office 365) on their desktop, this extra license is not required.

It’s worth noting that this license is available only as a “standard” SKU, so purchasing with SA (Software Assurance) is not an option. It will be interesting to see if this license grants these “commercialization” rights to future editions of Office RT (if indeed there are any), or if a new license would be required to use an RT tablet with Office H&S 2016?

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Microsoft Office 2013 price increases & license changes


The upcoming 2013 release of Microsoft’s Office suite & the related products brings with it not just great new features but also price increases.

The affected products and the expected increases are:

  • SharePoint Server +38%
  • SharePoint 2013 Standard User CAL +15%
  • Exchange 2013 Standard and Enterprise User Cals +15%
  • Visio Standard 2013 +20%
  • Visio Pro 2013 +5%
  • Project Standard 2013 and Professional 2013 +5%
  • Project Server 2013 +15%
  • Lync Server +400%

An increase in price when a new version is released is quite common, with most manufacturers, but coupled with the December 1st 15% increase on user CALs and just 6 months after the up to 30% price rise relating to the Euro/GBP levelling – I do not anticipate this being well received by customers!

The big takeaway from this is *If you’re looking at purchasing these products, look at the cost of buying now with SA (as well as the extra benefits) compared to the projected costs from December onwards*.

There are also a number of licensing changes about to take effect:

Lync

Lync Server Std & Enterprise are merging into 1 SKU, with a price of around £2000+ – a significant increase over the current Lync Std price. This does bring the failover & load balancing features to all Lync 2013 organizations.

Sharepoint

Microsoft have, in many areas, moved to simplify licensing and SharePoint is another area.

FAST Search Server & Search Server are no longer separate entities, they’re now simply part of SharePoint Server 2013.

A big one here, SharePoint for Internet Sites is no more. Microsoft have done away with the (up to) £30,000+ license, which was required for external user access to SharePoint content, and rolled those licensing rights into the standard server license. From the October Product Use Rights (PUR) document:

“CAL WAIVER FOR USERS ACCESSING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE CONTENT
CALs are not required to access content, information, and applications that you make publicly available to users over the Internet (i.e., not restricted to Intranet or Extranet scenarios).”

I imagine that this will partially contribute to the increase in price we’re seeing with 2013.

Exchange

Basic Anti-Malware protection will be baked into Exchange Server 2013

External Connectors

External connector licenses have been removed for both Exchange 2013 & Lync 2013. Again from the October 2012 PUR:

“External User Access: Licensed with Server”

Visio

Again in a move to simplify the SKU line up and make it easier for customers to make the right selection, Visio Premium is being discontinued and all it’s extra features will be moved into Visio Pro 2013.

Software Assurance

Organizations who purchased any products that are due to be discontinued along with Software Assurance need not worry, your benefits will continue and you will receive access to the relevant 2013 version.

Office 365

Something that Microsoft have not mentioned much at all and have in fact been reluctant to discuss, is that Visio & Project are being made available online via Office 365. This will be of big benefit to many customers, enabling easier collaboration among staff no matter their location.

Another benefit of this may well be around Software Asset Management (SAM). It’s common to see organizations over licensed for Project & Visio, Office 365 may make it easier for them to track how many licenses they have and who they are assigned to.

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Microsoft Surface Pro Pricing Leaked


Microsoft Surface Pro is the upcoming Redmond produced tablet that will run full Windows 8 Pro, and thus allow installation of legacy/LOB apps etc. We’ve seen recently the hardware spec for the device (https://richardgibbonsuk.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/microsoft-surface-pro/) and now, via Softpedia, we’ve got leaked pricing from Germany.

128GB Surface Pro = £729 / $1165 / €909

64GB Surface Pro = £648 / $1035 / €809

If those prices are correct (and there’s a high chance they’re not) then that is some quite amazing and aggressive pricing from Microsoft.

I can almost guarantee that all the customers I’ve spoken to about Windows 8 over the last few weeks would purchase those units with barely a second thought. Organizations are, in the most part, sold on Windows 8 and sold on the tablet form factor…it’s the £800+ price tag of many Windows 8 devices that causes them to pause. So a Core i5, 4GB RAM, Full HD, 64GB SSD device for £648 would be a real winner.

It is for that reason that Microsoft MUST ensure this device is available via “The Channel”, the network of distributors, resellers, VARs, LARs etc that make up 95%+ of their business. I’m seeing us lose sales at work, as customers are set on buying the Surface RT & so are going direct to Microsoft. In some cases, we’re able to cross sell to another Windows RT device such as the Samsung Ativ Tab but not always…and that’s to be expected. The Surface RT is such a great piece of hardware that people are bound to want that in a lot of cases. I’m sure this is the case for all the other resellers across the UK and indeed any other location.

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Microsoft Surface Pro


The Microsoft Surface RT is making waves in the consumer space and, to some degree, the world of business too. It looks great and runs great…but it doesn’t run legacy software and doesn’t integrate into Active Directory managed domains. Due to this, many organizations are looking to wait for the Surface Pro which will run full Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise..

We don’t have a nailed on release date yet (other than at least 90 days after Windows 8 RT) but we do have specs:

  • Screen size = 10.6” ClearType Full HD, 1920×1080, 16:9
  • Weight = <2lbs
  • Storage = 64GB & 128GB
  • Memory = 4GB
  • Pen Input = Yes – pen included with purchase
  • CPU = 3rd Gen Core i5
  • Connectivity = Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
  • Ports = Full Size USB 3.0, Micro SDXC slot, Mini Display Port

You can see the full spec here:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/7/A/37A9C06B-DB3D-4189-99EC-C1EE175234DE/SurfaceWithWindows8Pro_US_CA.pdf

The pdf does still mention the RT version of Office being included for free – I think someone might need to update that!

I like the spec of the machine, it looks decent but I feel the lack of 3g/4g is an odd omission. I read on the Reddit AMA that they had to choose between 3g and the Vapormg casing and that trade off, on a consumer device, makes some sense…but on a business device? I’m not so sure.

Even if people don’t really use 3g on tablet devices (and I’m sure MS studied/conducted research that showed this) it’s still the kind of thing that can put people off purchasing. If there’s another device with similar spec and a similar price AND offers cellular connectivity, I anticipate many would choose that.

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Windows 8, tablets and hardware


Today is the day.

Windows 8 is finally here for everyone.

I’ve had my Samsung slate running Windows 8 for a few weeks now and I love it. Last week I had my extra hardware accessories arrive which make it even better:

  • Samsung Dock
  • Microsoft Wedge Keyboard
  • Microsoft Wedge Mouse

Demoing the slate to customers with these bad boys hooked up really helps light up the fact that they can be used as a replacement to laptops, in the office as well as out on the road.

WP_001534

That right there looks great doesn’t it?! You can of course connect it to a  monitor for a bigger screen when in the office and then when you need to leave, for a meeting, to go home etc – just pick it up out of the dock and off you go!

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Windows 8 Enterprise SideLoading Keys


One of the many new things introduced with Windows 8 is the concept of “Enterprise SideLoading”.

While existing “desktop” apps can be deployed in the same fashion as with previous editions of Windows, “Windows Style” apps are published to the Windows Store and then downloaded from there. Microsoft realise that this isn’t the preferred method for organizations with bespoke apps for LOB (Line Of Business), HR etc, software purchased directly from an ISV etc. and so “Enterprise SideLoading” was born. This enables organizations to publish a Windows Style app directly to machines, circumventing the Windows Store, and is available in a couple of different ways.

Software Assurance

Enterprise SideLoading is a Software Assurance (SA) benefit on the following license schemes*:

  • Enterprise Agreement
  • Enterprise Subscription Agreement
  • Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES)
  • Campus & Schools agreements still running
  • Select Plus with SA
  • Select contracts still running

*Note it is NOT an SA benefit on Open licensing.

meaning customers running Windows 8 Enterprise (obtained via Windows 8 Pro + SA or VDA subscription purchased on the above licensing schemes) can enable this feature on domain joined machines through the “Allow all trusted applications to install” Group Policy setting.

More info on the policy setting can be found here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852635.aspx

 

Enterprise SideLoading Keys

Organizations who:

  • Choose not to purchase SA on Select/Select Plus & so have Windows 8 Pro
  • Have Windows RT devices
  • Obtain licensing (even with SA) via the Open license programmes

can purchase Enterprise SideLoading license keys in packs of 100, for approximately £2500 RRP…so around £25 per machine.

MAK (Multiple Activation Keys) will be made available via VLSC (Volume License Service Center).

For customers with non-domain joined Windows 8 Enterprise machines, these keys will be made available free of charge.

image

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This will enable smaller organizations, or those who choose not to take SA, to still deploy apps without going through the Windows Store.

Extras

  • It should be noted that “Each…Enterprise SideLoading license must be permanently assigned to a single device”.
  • For Academic institutions, Sideloading may only be enabled on institution owned devices
  • This licensing is per device NOT per app.

It appears that the info on this isn’t as widespread as I’d thought so hopefully this will help!

Update: Here’s a link to the “Windows 8 & RT Licensing Document” that gives some info on page 12:

Volume Licensing guide Windows 8 and Windows RT

October Microsoft Product List, page 101 has good info:

October 2012 – Microsoft Product List

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Windows RT Office Licensing


More Surface info was announced last night, with pricing and pre-orders being made available.

All was great and then something of a hubbub started on Twitter when it was noticed/realised/discovered that the Office included in Windows RT can’t be used for commercial purposes or, to quote MS:

“not for use in commercial, nonprofit, or revenue-generating activities”

Now, I’ve known this over 2 weeks and didn’t really think it was particularly surprising; it is, after all, Home & Student edition – which has never allowed those usage scenarios.

I’ve also known that, through:

  • Having a copy of Office 2013 on the RT device user’s primary device

or

  • That user having an Office 365 subscription that includes Office

or

  • Buying the “Office RT commercialization license” that will/should be available from November

You will be able to use said RT Office license in the previously restricted manners mentioned above.

I’m honestly surprised at the furore around this…it follows the same rules as the previous version and is related to a product not actually out yet…is that just me?

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Microsoft Surface pricing announced


Microsoft Surface, the Redmond produced tablet – built from awesomeness and secrecy – is pretty much here. Microsoft have announced pricing and pre-order availability!!!

image

So what are the scores on the doors?

image

How does this stack up to the iPad3?

32GB iPad = £479

64GB iPad = £559

So the Surface matches up exactly against the best seller from Cupertino, which I must say I find a little surprising – I thought it would come in under those prices…but I can see Microsoft not wanting to under-value the great hardware and efforts that are on offer here.

Features

  • Integrated Touchstand
  • 32GB or 64GB
  • WiFi and Bluetooth 4 – no cellular/3g
  • 8 hours “mixed activity” battery life
  • 2 x 720p HD cameras, 1 x front & 1 x rear facing
  • USB 2.0
  • Micro SDXC slot
  • 2GB RAM
  • 10.6” Screen

Head over to the Microsoft Store at:

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/productID.257929400?WT.mc_id=FY13WinHH

and check out the specs, the accessories and get one on pre-order!

I am REALLY excited about this product release, both from a personal “zOMG, I want one” but also from an industry/technology perspective – this is an exciting time for everyone (except perhaps Apple!).

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First Windows 8 advert arrives


Windows 8 will be released on October 26th and the first advert has debuted. It’s reported that Microsoft are set to spend $1.5 billion on advertising for this latest OS release…take a look at the first offering here:

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Office 2013 goes RTM


 

Office 2013 RTM (Release To Manufacturing) build has been signed off.

Coding and testing is complete.

Now the focus is getting the latest version of Microsoft’s productivity suite (and it’s many relations) out to customers, both consumer and business.

It’s not just the Office suite but also:

  • Lync
  • SharePoint
  • Exchange
  • Visio
  • Project

Office Upgrade Promo

From October 19th, people purchasing Office 2010 from resellers or retailers will receive a free upgrade to Office 2013 upon availability.

Availability

  • Microsoft will begin rolling out new capabilities to Office 365 Enterprise customers in our next service update, starting in November through general availability.
  • Volume Licensing customers with SA (Software Assurance) will be able to download the Office 2013 applications as well as other Office products (including SharePoint 2013, Lync 2013 and Exchange 2013) through the Volume Licensing Service Center by mid-November. These products will be available on the Volume Licensing price list on December 1.
  • IT professionals and developers will be able to download the final version via their TechNet or MSDN subscriptions by mid-November.

I’ve been using the preview for a while now and am a big fan of it, as are people who see it when they’re talking to me at my desk. It will be great once the RTM code is available to all!

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