Licensing

[Bruno P]

We are planning to purchase 100 Compaq Desktops which
comes preloaded with Windows XP Professinal. From a
licensing standpoint, can we remove XP and install
Win2000, WINNT4, WIN98 on it? I'm being told that XP Pro
is "backwards compatible" and Microsoft would not have a
problem with this.

Is it also the same with Purchasing WIN2000 Server
Licenses and then installing WINNT Server 4 ? And how
about purchasing Exchange 2000 and Installing Exchange
5.5 ? Thanks

[Nicholas]

Only "Volume Licenses" have downgrade capability.

Ref: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/volbrief.asp


--=20
Nicholas

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"Bruno P" > wrote in message:
...

| We are planning to purchase 100 Compaq Desktops which=20
| comes preloaded with Windows XP Professinal. From a=20
| licensing standpoint, can we remove XP and install=20
| Win2000, WINNT4, WIN98 on it? I'm being told that XP Pro=20
| is "backwards compatible" and Microsoft would not have a=20
| problem with this.=20
|=20
| Is it also the same with Purchasing WIN2000 Server=20
| Licenses and then installing WINNT Server 4 ? And how=20
| about purchasing Exchange 2000 and Installing Exchange=20
| 5.5 ? Thanks

[David]

"Bruno P" > wrote in news:097e01c36208$419b40e0
:

> We are planning to purchase 100 Compaq Desktops which
> comes preloaded with Windows XP Professinal. From a
> licensing standpoint, can we remove XP and install
> Win2000, WINNT4, WIN98 on it? I'm being told that XP Pro
> is "backwards compatible" and Microsoft would not have a
> problem with this.
>
> Is it also the same with Purchasing WIN2000 Server
> Licenses and then installing WINNT Server 4 ? And how
> about purchasing Exchange 2000 and Installing Exchange
> 5.5 ? Thanks
>

From a licensing standpoint..No. As long as you have valid licenses for
each of the OS's you install.

But, You should check with HP/Compaq to what it will do to your warranty.
Many OEMs will void the warranty if you change the pre-installed OS.

David

[D.Currie]

If you're buying that many, you should be dealing with volume licensing, and
they are the ones who should help you. Whatever you hear here is just
peer-to-peer support, and you've got a lot of $$ hanging in the balance.

Also, before you buy these new Compaqs, it might be wise to make sure they
have drivers for whatever OS you decide to go with. Since their hardware
tends to be pretty proprietary, if they don't have drivers for Win2K or 98
or whatever it might be, there's not going to be anywhere else for you to
find drivers. Since these computers would be built to run XP, there might
not be older drivers available, which is going to put a bigger crimp in your
plans than the licensing issue would.


"Bruno P" > wrote in message
...
> We are planning to purchase 100 Compaq Desktops which
> comes preloaded with Windows XP Professinal. From a
> licensing standpoint, can we remove XP and install
> Win2000, WINNT4, WIN98 on it? I'm being told that XP Pro
> is "backwards compatible" and Microsoft would not have a
> problem with this.
>
> Is it also the same with Purchasing WIN2000 Server
> Licenses and then installing WINNT Server 4 ? And how
> about purchasing Exchange 2000 and Installing Exchange
> 5.5 ? Thanks

[Michael Moore [MS]]

Bruno-
OEM licenses can be placed under Software Assurance (at an additional cost) which grants downgrade rights as well as other benefits (certain rules apply). For more information, you can call 1-800-426-9400, Monday through Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. (Pacific time) to speak directly to a Microsoft licensing specialist.

I'd love to have someone from Microsoft talk to you about your deployment. Usually, our advice would be to implement current versions which represents our most up-to-date solutions for businesses and organizations. But we'd love to understand exactly what you would like to accomplish to help ensure a successful deployment. You can ask to have someone follow up with you when you call in for the licensing question or post back here and I can match you with someone in your area.

Best of luck with your deployment and thank you for choosing Microsoft.

--
Michael Moore
Technology Specialist
TS2 Team
Microsoft Corporation
www.connect-ms.com/msts2

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Bruno P" > wrote in message ...
> We are planning to purchase 100 Compaq Desktops which
> comes preloaded with Windows XP Professinal. From a
> licensing standpoint, can we remove XP and install
> Win2000, WINNT4, WIN98 on it? I'm being told that XP Pro
> is "backwards compatible" and Microsoft would not have a
> problem with this.
>
> Is it also the same with Purchasing WIN2000 Server
> Licenses and then installing WINNT Server 4 ? And how
> about purchasing Exchange 2000 and Installing Exchange
> 5.5 ? Thanks

[Michael Moore [MS]]

Bruno-
OEM licenses can be placed under Software Assurance (at an additional cost) which grants downgrade rights as well as other benefits (certain rules apply). For more information, you can call 1-800-426-9400, Monday through Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. (Pacific time) to speak directly to a Microsoft licensing specialist.

I'd love to have someone from Microsoft talk to you about your deployment. Usually, our advice would be to implement current versions which represents our most up-to-date solutions for businesses and organizations. But we'd love to understand exactly what you would like to accomplish to help ensure a successful deployment. You can ask to have someone follow up with you when you call in for the licensing question or post back here and I can match you with someone in your area.

Best of luck with your deployment and thank you for choosing Microsoft.

--
Michael Moore
Technology Specialist
TS2 Team
Microsoft Corporation
www.connect-ms.com/msts2

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Bruno P" > wrote in message ...
> We are planning to purchase 100 Compaq Desktops which
> comes preloaded with Windows XP Professinal. From a
> licensing standpoint, can we remove XP and install
> Win2000, WINNT4, WIN98 on it? I'm being told that XP Pro
> is "backwards compatible" and Microsoft would not have a
> problem with this.
>
> Is it also the same with Purchasing WIN2000 Server
> Licenses and then installing WINNT Server 4 ? And how
> about purchasing Exchange 2000 and Installing Exchange
> 5.5 ? Thanks