Technet Advice

[mubs]

I'm going to order a Technet Standard subscription (my first). What should I do as soon as I get it? Go to MS's website and ask for as many keys as is allowed for each sw I'm likely to use? I guess the download can happen anytime during the period of the sub. Or can I do it after that as well, except that the keys are provided only during the period of the sub?

Thanks!

 

[ddrueding]

Downloads and keys during the sub.

 

[Howell]

You are subscribing to the software not the website.
Legally, once the subscription expires the software under that subscription expires and you are to stop using it.
And yes, when the subscription expires you will lose access to keys and downloads.

 

[mubs]

Sir Howell,

Not true, according to this. Please read from the sub-heading titled "It's forever".

If this wasn't the case, I wouldn't bother. What I need is Win XP Pro, Win 7 and Office 2010.

 

[time]

The keys may be forever, but how will you get an activation to work once your subscription has expired?

 

[BingBangBop]

Technically, it is not forever. The license requires that you uninstall when the subscription ends. That being said, currently it is effectively impossible for Microsoft to enforce that clause. Maybe someday, their update program and during activation will check against the expired subscription database, but not yet and that makes it effectively forever.

 

[ddrueding]

The keys may be forever, but how will you get an activation to work once your subscription has expired?

At the moment, activation work just fine years after your subscription has expired.

 

[mubs]

Technically, it is not forever. The license requires that you uninstall when the subscription ends. That being said, currently it is effectively impossible for Microsoft to enforce that clause. Maybe someday, their update program and during activation will check against the expired subscription database, but not yet and that makes it effectively forever.

This was true for MSDN (when I checked several years ago), which is why I never subscribed to that. The attraction with Technet is that it *is* forever. Can somebody who has it please read the EULA and tell me if BingBangBop is right?

 

[Mercutio]

This was true for MSDN (when I checked several years ago), which is why I never subscribed to that. The attraction with Technet is that it *is* forever. Can somebody who has it please read the EULA and tell me if BingBangBop is right?

Technically, yes he is, but the product keys really do continue working, just as ddrueding said.

My standard practice is to go ahead and claim all the product keys when I get the sub, then dump them on a web site I have access to. I download new .iso files as they become available, and I use the keys pretty indiscriminately once I have them. Mostly they're being used for classroom stuff or virtual machines, but I've been known to leave an MSDN key on a customer system just to get it deployed before the actual license they paid for shows up. I doubt I'm the only tech who has ever let that happen, either.

 

[Howell]

Sir Howell,

Not true, according to this. Please read from the sub-heading titled "It's forever".

If this wasn't the case, I wouldn't bother. What I need is Win XP Pro, Win 7 and Office 2010.

I used the word legally on purpose; as opposed to effectively. I'm surprised Mr. Thurrott is so imprecise in his language.

 

[BingBangBop]

Well, I have carefully read the EULA and unlike previous subscription services from Microsoft the current Technet EULA does not seem to require the removal of the software when the subscription ends. At least I see no mention of it. That being said, it does have explicit limitations like it can be used only for testing purposes and then lists the specific testing allowed. Any other use, is explicitly disallowed.

 

[mubs]

Thanks all, for the patience and info. i think I will risk ordering one. It takes 4 weeks here! The only reseller that even knew what Technet was said he'd sold only one in all of 2010 till now, and that it is a special order item. Hopefully I will have it in my hands end Nov / early Dec.

I presume the sub is for 12 full months, not some arbitrary calendar date that will shortchange me.

 

[Howell]

Well, I have carefully read the EULA and unlike previous subscription services from Microsoft the current Technet EULA does not seem to require the removal of the software when the subscription ends. At least I see no mention of it. That being said, it does have explicit limitations like it can be used only for testing purposes and then lists the specific testing allowed. Any other use, is explicitly disallowed.

Thanks for the update. Is there a revision date on that document?

 

[BingBangBop]

7/28/2006

 

[mubs]

Also, can someone tell me, are the keys provided collectively for all the variants of a sw, or for each variant? In other words, if one gets two keys for Win 7, is it 2 keys for Win 7 Home Premium, 2 for Win 7 Pro, 2 for Win 7 Enterprise, etc., or two keys total for all variants of Win 7 collectively?

Thanks.

 

[Mercutio]

Two for each, if not 10 (all mine are 10). And International variants sometimes count as unique; Windows 7 "N" has different keys from the standard products.

 

[mubs]

Thank you, kind Sir.

 

[Chewy509]

As part of my Uni degree, I've just had a MSDN Academic Alliance account created, and the ability to download select software... (WinXP, Win7, Visual Studio 2008, MS SQL 2008 Dev Edn, etc - but no Office2010 ).

The catch - You can only download the ISO once, and you only have 1 key issued that can only be activated ONCE. If you need to reactivate for whatever reason you need to contact the MSDNAA admin at Uni and have them issue you a new key... The software is ONLY valid while you're a student at Uni as well...

The only decent thing is the ability to purchase outright the software at a very cheap rate at about half of OEM price.

PS. Just found out, both the intermediate programming class and the web development class both use C# and ASP.NET as the language of choice respectively - no Java? I though all Uni's taught Java over Microsoft based technologies?

 

[Mercutio]

My Academic Alliance sub, while I had one (it ended back in May), worked more or less just like any other Technet sub. I had a slightly different entry portal to my product keys and stuff but I had access to the same products and codes.

Maybe your university's agreement with Microsoft is different from a standard AA setup somehow?

 

[time]

Coincidentally, my Office 2010 beta suddenly expired. Won't even let me view stuff read-only.

Not sure what to do now. Giving money to M$ for almost worthless software doesn't appeal. I can get a 3-user Office Home & Student license for $140 ...

 

[Mercutio]

Can you possibly import your documents into Office Live?

 

[timwhit]

Coincidentally, my Office 2010 beta suddenly expired. Won't even let me view stuff read-only.

Not sure what to do now. Giving money to M$ for almost worthless software doesn't appeal. I can get a 3-user Office Home & Student license for $140 ...

How about LibreOffice?

 

[Chewy509]

My Academic Alliance sub, while I had one (it ended back in May), worked more or less just like any other Technet sub. I had a slightly different entry portal to my product keys and stuff but I had access to the same products and codes.

Maybe your university's agreement with Microsoft is different from a standard AA setup somehow?

That's what I'm starting to think myself. And the product list is very limited compared to either the normal MSDN or TechNet subs (which I've both had access to in the past).

 

[mubs]

Buying Technet here is a hassle. There is no online option, and since it's a "slow-moving item", it is special order and has to be paid for in advance. MS ships the products ordered once a month, and it arrives on a slave-powered dhow from wherever.

I paid on Nov 4, and have Technet 2010 Standard in my hands this morning.

I guess I will ask for keys to all the sw I will possibly want, and then follow that up by downloading. If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

 

[ddrueding]

If it is anything like here, you have access to the website and can download iso files for everything and get all your program keys. I don't even bother with the physical disks from MS.

 

[Mercutio]

Based on the newest Retail Technet Pro subscription that I have, it appears that I'm limited to five product keys for products that allow for multiple downloads. Technet Standard keys get just two product keys. Using an Office 2007 Standard key provided through Technet, I was able to Activate the same key 11 times before I was told the key was invalid.

Y'know, in case anyone was wondering.

 

[ddrueding]

I've encountered the same, though I purchased mine a while ago, they seem to have changed it mid-way.

 

[Mercutio]

I've encountered the same, though I purchased mine a while ago, they seem to have changed it mid-way.

The way I read it, it only applies to keys that are presently unclaimed, and if the site said you got 10 keys, you still get 10 keys. I can verify that through another associated sub.

 

[ddrueding]

Ah. It might be because I recently renewed.

 

[mubs]

When a Technet sub is renewed, does one get a whole set of new (additional) keys?

 

[ddrueding]

Nope. Legally, your old keys expired, though they still work. It might be best if you let one subscription expire and then created a new one.

 

[Mercutio]

When a Technet sub is renewed, does one get a whole set of new (additional) keys?

The phone sales people say you get new keys but that has not been my experience. I alternate between renewing on two different IDs. The sales people never have a problem with that and they always apply my renewal discount regardless.

 

[mubs]

Thanks DD & Merc.

As usual, I for my first ever Technet sub in Feb this year, downloaded some stuff, and haven't had the time to do a single thing with the sw. Since my new PC build project has been posponed indefinitely for now, I'll have to shoehorn W7 into my current working XP setup.

Hope to get to it one of these days. Too many damn things competing for time. I need a reeeeealy good to do list manager - something that'll run on my Symbian phone without needing to turn on the PC. In the meantime, a small paper pad and pencil is the workaround.

 

[Adcadet]

I like RememberTheMilk, but it looks like there is no Symbian app.
http://www.developer.nokia.com/Comm...read.php?182365-Remember-the-Milk-Symbian-App

 

[Howell]

I need a reeeeealy good to do list manager - something that'll run on my Symbian phone without needing to turn on the PC. In the meantime, a small paper pad and pencil is the workaround.

I think you may be out of luck if this doesn't do it for you.

And it syncs with my favorite Todo web service Toodledo. You may end up using the web interface for entry and phone for viewing. If the app did not sync to anything I would be paranoid about losing the lists I had spent so much time to build.

EDIT: Actually, there are a couple of RTM clients:
http://store.ovi.com/search?q=remember+the+milk

 

[mubs]

Thanks for the tips, guys, I'll check them out.

 

[mubs]

Do they allow activation after the Technet sub has expired?

 

[Mercutio]

Yes. Once the numbers have been issued I think they're just treated like regular retail keys in most cases.

 

[mubs]

Whew! Thanks Merc. Since you say the keys can be activated beyond the sub, there's no pressure to get installs done.

Just before my sub expires, I'll download the latest ISOs; I assume they update the ISOs with patches from time to time.

I'll "renew" under another name if I'm able to get a renewal discount from the vendor, if not just buy a new sub when I next need it.

 

[MaxBurn]

Been doing a little research and currently people are suggesting that you only get two keys per product and they are good for the 10 activations or so. Have they really reduced technet standard to two keys?

Also anyone have promo / discount codes?