Virtual Machine Licensing and User Identification Requirements (Windows 11 Professional)

DISCLAIMER

THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND REFLECTS THE AUTHOR’S INTERPRETATION OF LICENSING TERMS. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL, FINANCIAL, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. NO GUARANTEES, REPRESENTATIONS, OR WARRANTIES—EXPRESS OR IMPLIED—ARE MADE REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR RELIABILITY OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED. THE AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, OR LEGAL CONSEQUENCES RESULTING FROM RELIANCE ON THIS CONTENT. FOR GUIDANCE SPECIFIC TO YOUR SITUATION, CONSULT A QUALIFIED LEGAL PROFESSIONAL.

COMPUTLE TERMS OF SERVICE (n1)

· Section 2 grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Computle Software, including any applicable Third-Party Software, in accordance with these terms and conditions, including its termination provisions.

· "Third-Party Software" means all software owned by a third party, but legally licensed for distribution by Computle or as part of the Computle Software.

· Section 4 places a reporting obligation on the person/entity who is responsible for the leasing of the Computle Goods and Computle Software that if the Computle System is to be used by multiple users you must identify and name the number of users and their respective identities.

· Section 5 grants that you may at your own cost use the Computle Software temporarily on an alternative processor to the Computle System for the purpose of disaster recovery, which for clarity, includes physical access to your assigned workstations, where possible.

COMPUTLE SERVICE ARCHITECTURE

· Computle Broker requires that a specific user be explicitly authorized to access a specific workstation, ensuring that only that designated person—and no one else—can access it.

· Our product keys are Windows 11 Professional OEM licenses installed onto dedicated virtualised workstations.

· Computle Devices run Windows 11 Professional OEM.

MICROSOFT LICENSE TERMS WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM (n2)

· Section 2 (b) states “In this agreement, “device” means a local hardware system (whether physical or virtual) with an internal storage device capable of running the software. A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a device. For purposes of this agreement, “device” does not include any hardware system (whether physical or virtual) on which the software is installed or accessed solely for remote use over a network.”

· Section 2 (d) (iv) states “Use in a virtualized environment. This license allows you to install only one instance of the software for use on one device, whether that device is physical or virtual. If you want to use the software on more than one virtual device, you must obtain a separate license for each instance.”

· Section 2 (d) (v) adds “Remote access. No more than once every 90 days, you may designate a single user who physically uses the licensed device as the licensed user. The licensed user may access the licensed device from another device using remote access technologies for a period of up to 365 days from the last physical use. Other users, at different times, may access the licensed device from another device using remote access technologies, but only on devices separately licensed to run the same or higher edition of this software.”

WINDOWS 11 LICENSING BRIEF FOR VIRTUAL DESKTOP

· Computle is a workstation manufacturer and not a Microsoft Commercial Licensing customer.

· The document states “This brief addresses Windows 11 licensing for Microsoft Commercial Licensing customers only. For the purposes of this brief, Commercial Licensing programs include all Volume License programs, CSP, and the Microsoft Customer Agreement”.

· It goes onto say “Windows 11 licensed solely through your OEM device generally does not include virtualization entitlements, with some exceptions. Please see your OEM license agreement for more details.”

OUR INTERPRETATION

· Computle provides a Windows 11 Professional OEM license per workstation.

· Computle requires that each workstation be assigned to a named user. If they are not a named user on the device that they are connecting to, they are denied access through our software architecture.

· Computle Device runs Windows 11 Professional.

· Clients are permitted to perform disaster recovery operations, which grants them physical access to their workstations as needed.

Based on our interpretation of Microsoft’s licensing terms:

o The primary assigned user may access their designated workstation remotely for up to 365 days before requiring reassignment.

o The terms imply that the workstation can be reassigned to an administrator who physically uses it. Following this, another user may then remotely access the workstation from a separate device, provided that the device used to connect is individually licensed to run at the same or a higher edition of Windows. We interpret this to mean that a Windows 11 Pro Computle Device meets this requirement.

o After 90 days, the device may be reassigned to another user for a further 365 days.

NOTE:

· We interpret this to only apply to Windows 11 Professional devices. Windows 11 Home, Macintosh, Linux or other operating systems would require a separate license.

· We interpret the VDA licensing to apply to scenario where you do not control the end-user’s connecting device, such as contractor devices, third parties, and user’s personal devices or non-Windows 11 Professional devices.

· Accessing other Microsoft technologies, such as Windows Server or Active Directory, would require a Client Access License (CAL).

SOURCES

Computle Terms of Sale

Microsoft Windows 11 OEM License Terms

Windows 11 licensing for Virtual Desktops