Vista License Downgrade Rights for Volume Licensing
Submitted by admin on Fri, 2006-12-01 19:01.
Don't want to run Windows Vista yet? You don't have to.
Based on the lifecycle chart (link), Windows XP licensing and availability will continue for at least 12 months after the release of Vista for average users. Harvard UIS, however, has a volume licensing agreement with Microsoft and our downgrade availability is tied in with that agreement.
If one is unable to purchase an XP Pro license, a Vista Business license may be purchased instead and is considered valid for legally installing ("downgrading" to) XP Pro. One would continue to use the volume licensing key provided on the XP Pro install media for installation, but keep record of their Vista Business license to satisfy license requirements. This is legal as long as only one or the other is installed, not both. (FYI, Vista Ultimate also qualifies - No other versions of Vista are eligible; only Business/Enterprise and Ultimate.)
This is also true for those who have purchased a system with Vista (Business or Ultimate) installed but would like to downgrade to XP Pro. One would install, over Vista Business/Ultimate, XP Pro from the Harvard install media and using the Harvard license key, but one would keep their Vista license that came with their machine to prove their legality. The user can at any time move back to the version of Vista which came on the machine (as long as only one or the other is installed, not both).
| From Microsoft's website: Can I downgrade my OEM version of Windows Vista Business to Windows XP Professional?Yes. OEM downgrade rights for desktop PC operating systems apply to Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate as stated in the License Terms. Please note, OEM downgrade versions of Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate are limited to Windows XP Professional (including Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows XP x64 Edition). End users can use the following media for their downgrade: Volume Licensing media (provided the end user has a Volume Licensing agreement), retail (FPP), or system builder hologram CD (provided the software is acquired in accordance with the Microsoft OEM System Builder License). Use of the downgraded operating system is governed by the Windows Vista Business License Terms, and the end user cannot use both the downgrade operating system and Windows Vista Business. There are no downgrade rights granted for Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista Home Premium. |
Please note that one cannot "downgrade" to XP Pro if their license is for Vista Home or Vista Home Premium. Harvard does not have Windows XP Home licensing. To take advantage of the downgrade option, one must have a Vista Business (aka Enterprise) or Ultimate license.
References:
Microsoft lifecycle chart
Windows Vista editions chart
I'm looking for info on the 'second license' thing
Volume license customers (and no one else - this does not in any way include consumer or OEM customers) are entitled to a second license under a special circumstance. A machine installed under our volume licensing running Windows Vista is entitled to one license to run one legacy Microsoft operating system under Virtual PC Express (included in Vista). So, for instance, you've gone and bought a license and media from UIS and upgraded your desktop to Vista. You can then legally install, say, Windows 2000 in Virtual PC Express on that machine and this is considered a legally licensed installation. This, again, only applies to this circumstance and never applies to Vista purchased retail.