M$ Action Pack renewal

Discussion in 'Software' started by zebulebu, May 13, 2009.

  1. zebulebu

    zebulebu Terabyte Poster

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    So...

    I recently got a reasonably big private consultancy to investigate stripping Sh1trix out of a firm and replacing it with vanilla app publishing through native TS instead (saving them a mint on CALs every year). Part of the consult is also to migrate their AD to 2K8 as well. When I signed off on the contract I decided to renew my Partner agreement with M$ (my original action pack subscription expired yonks ago, as I was working perm and couldn't justify the expense of renewal every year for the very small number of private jobs I did that required me to have a non-commercial lab)

    It came through today - wow was I unimpressed. ONE activation for 2K8 server? ONE!?!? How in the hell am I supposed to knock up a dev lab for a project like that with ONE sodding activation? I went back and checked - sure enough, the original MAPS had five activation keys for Server 2003. So, I now have to foot the bill of buying the software myself first, with no guarantee that TS will give the client what they need - and hence no guarantee that they'll go for it and leave me about five grand out of pocket.

    Bollocks to that!

    What I don't understand is that the licensing is now far less open to abuse than it used to be with the MAK/KMS system - so why make it harder for legitimate (ahem) 'partners' (God saying that makes me feel so dirty) to use MAPS software for what it's actually intended - promoting Microsoft products!

    Now I'm sure its small beans to M$, who couldn't really give a monkeys, but the net result of this is probably going to be that, when I go back to the firm in question and tell them that they will have to fork out in advance for software that they may not even end up using, they will either end up going with someone else who won't be so scrupulous about the legitimacy of the software they use, or will just not bother and stick with Citrix instead - thus losing M$ an (albeit small) foothold in the race to get people to ditch Citrix altogether and plump for M$' offering.

    That seems dopey to me in the extreme.
     
    Certifications: A few
    WIP: None - f*** 'em
  2. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    How about getting a Technet Plus subscription? There was a thing alittle awhile ago where features of the Action Pack went downhill and increased feature enhancements with technet, however don't know how many servers you can activate - so far I have only used clients.

    Apart from that, you could use the software up to 30 days, so you could install multiple copies, provided you either finish your reseach within that time period or re-install every so often :(

    -ken
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
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  3. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    I'm a TN+ subscriber and the server software is full version without time limits.
    More info here.


    HTH

    NB
     
    Certifications: 70-210, 70-215, A+,N+, Security+
    WIP: MCSA
  4. Boycie
    Honorary Member

    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    blimey, that sucks. My Actionpack subscription ran out some time ago too; I believed there were some hoops to jump through to renew.

    NB - I've had a quick look on the TN page. Do you know off the top of your head what criteria (other than the fee!) MS want on this one?

    Cheers.
     
    Certifications: MCSA 2003, MCDST, A+, N+, CTT+, MCT
  5. Gingerdave

    Gingerdave Megabyte Poster

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    TN is designed for development and training purposes and not to be used in a production environment. Other then that they dont really mind to much
     
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  6. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Do you mean when signing up for TN?
    If so, then not a deal is required in order to sign up for TN. Just the usual details will suffice.

    Also, as Gingerdave has said, the software is for testing purposes and not to be used in a production environment.
    Also, if you don't renew the subscription each year, then the licenses will effectively end when your sub ends too.

    HTH
    NB
     
    Certifications: 70-210, 70-215, A+,N+, Security+
    WIP: MCSA
  7. Boycie
    Honorary Member

    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    that's great - thanks for confirmation.
     
    Certifications: MCSA 2003, MCDST, A+, N+, CTT+, MCT
  8. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    At work we have the full technet plus version and get dvd software and updates every so often. I personally still think if your company is not paying for it then it's an expensive individual option that am not willing or can pay for:)
     
    Certifications: MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003 Messaging, MCP, HNC BIT, ITIL Fdn V3, SDI Fdn, VCP 4 & VCP 5
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  9. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    Quote: zebulebu

    How in the hell am I supposed to knock up a dev lab for a project like that with ONE sodding activation?


    Onoski: Said:)
    Hi Zeb, the activated copy of Win 2K8 can be virtualised and copied as a VM hard disk allowing you to run several copies this way. I recently had to do this for a project at work and it worked seemlessly on several computers.
     
    Certifications: MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003 Messaging, MCP, HNC BIT, ITIL Fdn V3, SDI Fdn, VCP 4 & VCP 5
    WIP: MCTS:70-236, PowerShell
  10. madman045

    madman045 Kilobyte Poster

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    The copy supplied in the Action Pack does come with two licence keys, however it can only be installed once as a physical instance and once as a virtual instance, only Enterprise edition allows up to four virtual instances.

    Technet is the way forward, either by getting your partner status up a level of which I believe qualifies you for a Technet sub or buy paying the £237 + VAT for the web edition (if you dont mind downloading the ISO's)

    I do agree however the action pack is becoming less of a perk, especially when they reduced the level of the new CRM to the 5 user version, as it means we will be using Sage ACT instead of MS CRM
     
    Certifications: 70-270, 70-290, PRINCE2 Foundation, VCA-DCV & VCA-DT
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  11. nugget
    Honorary Member

    nugget Junior toady

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    Technet sub all the way baby. I changed mine over and haven't looked back, not to mention it's cheaper too.:twisted:
     
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  12. guyver9114

    guyver9114 Bit Poster

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    I agree Technet plus you can get 20% off at moment with the following code: TNCARE09

    :)
     
    Certifications: MCSA: Messaging, MCT
    WIP: Nothing for a few months :)
  13. zebulebu

    zebulebu Terabyte Poster

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    Yep - bit the bullet and got Technet last week. Would have been nice to get the code for 20% off BEFORE I'd gone and plonked down another 300 quid (on top of the 200-odd quid I'd ALREADY spent on the ActionPack renewal... :dry
     
    Certifications: A few
    WIP: None - f*** 'em

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