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Large organizations are slow to adopt new software releases. It comes down to the cost of moving from platforms that have been tested and proven in their environment, to a new one that will require months of planning and effort before being internally approved. For instance, many companies skipped Windows Vista and waited for Windows 7, avoiding unnecessary cost in migration, support and maintenance.
More and more organizations are moving to Windows 7, as Windows XP is already 9 years old and the end of mainstream support occurred in April 2009 (extended support will end in April 2014). However, Windows 8 is just around the corner and will probably be available by early 2012. Microsoft will probably stop selling Windows 7 in the year following the release of Windows 8. Organizations will then need to rely on downgrade rights obtained from their Microsoft volume purchase agreement to keep installing and using Windows 7, while purchasing the newer Windows 8. Downgrade rights are part of the license entitlements provided by Microsoft for many products, but rules can be complex and must be applied correctly to maintain license compliance.
The primary parameter to consider for downgrade rights is the type of purchase agreement: OEM, Retail or Volume Agreement. Downgrade rights vary according to the agreement or purchase type. Another important consideration is whether or not the products qualify for and are covered by Software Assurance. As a rule of thumb, the vast majority software products purchased through retail (Full Packaged Product) are not entitled to downgrade rights, except for a handful of server products. Few Windows operating systems, including Windows 7 and Windows Server, offer downgrade rights through OEM purchases. Volume agreement and Software Assurance deliver the most generous downgrade rights across all products and few restrictions apply.
Microsoft makes a clear distinction between product version and edition. Versions are defined as different generations of the same product; editions are usually released at the same time and refer to different functional offerings within the same product family. Downgrade rights apply to the versions of a product, not to editions, unless explicitly stated in their product use rights document or product list. For instance:
•With Windows Server 2008 R2, downgrade to versions 2003 or 2000 and downgrade to lesser editions of 2008 and 2003 is authorized. For instance, a Windows 2008 R2 Standard license can be installed as Windows Server 2003 Standard edition or Windows 2000 Standard. A Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise edition can be installed as a Windows 2008 or 2003 Standard edition. The only restriction is for OEM licenses: the installer may provide an earlier version but is not obligated to do so. After March 31st 2011, OEMs are no longer entitled to distribute recovery or downgrade media for Windows Server 2003. Microsoft customers will need to use the Microsoft Windows Server Fulfillment website.
•An Office Professional Plus 2010 license purchased through a volume agreement or covered by Software Assurance does not provide any right to install Office Standard 2007 or even Office Standard 2010. It does, however, provide the right to install and use Office Professional Plus 2007 as a lesser version. But, OneNote 2007 and Groove 2007 cannot be used as they were not part of that release, even though they are part of the 2010 release. (Groove has since been renamed SharePoint WorkSpace).
•A purchase of Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 through a volume agreement does not provide downgrade rights to Visio Professional 2007. The versions of the two products are not the same and Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 has no equivalent in the 2007 release. Only customers that were previously licensed for Visio Professional 2007 and acquired the Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 license through Software Assurance may continue to use that product.
Exceptions and special case scenarios are legion. Microsoft publishes new sets of rules (Product Use Rights) on an irregular basis (twice in 2009, 5 times in 2010, once in 2011 so far). Software asset management best practice is to monitor new releases and to check for any major differences, as this may impact the license position of the organization. FlexNet Manager for Microsoft customers on maintenance will remain up to date, since Flexera Software updates its Product Use Rights Library every month and it is automatically downloaded to the FlexNet Manager Platform repository.