Thursday, 26 April 2012 15:10
Microsoft charges more for non-windows tablets
Written by Nick Farrell
We don't encourage that sort of thing
Microsoft's Windows 8 license will raise prices for businesses whose employees use their personal iPads and Android tablets to access virtual corporate desktops.
Buried in the fine print of the Windows 8 licence for a new Software Assurance option called a Companion Device License (CDL). This gives customers the right to access corporate desktops through virtual desktop infrastructure on up to four personally owned devices. The CDL only applies to non-Windows tablets and those whose employees use personal Windows 8 tablets with VDI won't have to pay extra.
Vole claims that the move closes a licensing revenue loophole. Companies who have not bought Windows licenses for the personal iPads and Androids their employees are using to access Windows through VDI. As a result they get the advantage of using Windows while still running those play operating systems from Apple and Google.
Microsoft's vice president of worldwide partner sales and marketing, told CRN that Microsoft wants to be paid for its value-add. Microsoft has not yet said what it plans to charge for the CDL, but it is likely that customers who use iPads and Androids will see it as an unnecessary expense. We would have thought that it was tricky to enforce too.
More here.
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