That's a problem because if you break them you could face a large and unforeseen licensing bill next time your company is audited. For example, if you want to deploy a new server running Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition, you would have to purchase Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition (the current version) and exercise your version downgrade rights.īut it turns out that Microsoft's rules on the matter are complex in the extreme. That means that if you want to standardise on a noncurrent version and plan to upgrade at a slower pace than Microsoft's upgrade cycle, then you may have no option but to purchase the current version and then downgrade to the version you have standardized on. The most common reason for exercising downgrade rights stems from the fact that Microsoft typically doesn't continue to sell older versions of its software once newer versions are released. By downgrading, a customer does not forfeit the right to switch to the licensed, more recent, version at some point in the future, he says. In general, these entitle the owner of a product license to install and run an earlier version and equivalent edition of the same product in its place, according to Rob Horowitz, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft. The good news is that most of Microsoft's business licenses come with downgrade rights. Related: Windows XP to Windows 8: Don't Go There ]
