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Microsoft Revamps Licensing Plans

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the adapt-or-die-die-die dept.

prostoalex writes "Microsoft is introducing significant changes into its licensing program, faced with competition from Linux, as Reuters article suggests. First, Microsoft starts giving away free server licenses to its Software Assurance Program customers, if the PC is not actually used in production and is not present on the network. Such licensing would be convenient for disaster recoveries, where it's important to replace a failed server as soon as possible without calling Microsoft support or licensing partner. Support lifecycle is also extended to 10 years for a variety of products, including Windows 2000, Windows XP and SQL Server 2000."

8 of 356 comments (clear)

  1. Thanks Bill by slayer99 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Seems like some fairly sane policy from Redmond.

    --
    Martin Brooks / Slayer99 #linux / UIN 2178117
  2. *BSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    It is official; Netcraft confirms: *BSD is dying

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

    FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.

    Fact: *BSD is dying

  3. Here's a scan. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Here's a scan of the new licensing plans.

  4. Architectural Obsolescence? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    "NT 4 has reached its point of architectural obsolescence"

    BULLSHIT!!!! IF NT4 is obsolete, so is XP.

    The only think NT4 is missing is that FUCKING ACTIVATION BULLSHIT!

  5. Can't get the backup server on a network? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    So this non-network connected server gets it's security and Windows updates from where and when?

    Sounds like worm bait to me.... /Reboot
    Sounds like worm bait to me.... /Reboot
    Sounds like worm bait to me.... /Reboot
    Sounds like worm bait to me.... /Reboot
    Sounds like worm bait to me.... /Reboot

  6. Re:Place your bets...place your bets by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 0, Troll

    The business plan to that one works like this... 1. Say you're going to do something 2. Then retract your statement and say that you are in fact, NOT going to do anything 3. Quietly do what you were planning to all along 4. Profit

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
  7. Re:I don't get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    WWWWWWOOWWWWWW!!!

    Winblows!

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHH@@@!!!!!AAAHAHHA

    *snicker*

    Is that anything like teh Lunix?

    Goddamned zealot.

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  8. Re:Wow, this is soo insightful. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Don't blame linux for your queerness.