Do I have Downgrade Rights for my software that comes in Action Pack?

Interesting….

Microsoft Small Business Community Blog : Do I have Downgrade Rights for my software that comes in Action Pack?

This is a question that has been floating around a few of the online groups lately, so I thought I would post the answer here for you. This comes from the Microsoft Action Pack Team:

“While MAPS does not include downgrade rights, a partner can continue to use a previous version of a product through the remainder of their subscription year.

The intention of the Action Pack program is to provide the latest software technology to the partners, thus once a product is revised the previous version will no longer available.”

So for all of you that received the Windows XP Professional licenses in your Action Pack, you still have the rights to use them throughout the term of your annual subscription. Remember that Action Pack is a subscription and you will need to renew that subscription annually. When your annual subscription ends, you no longer have the rights to run the software that you received in the expired kit. To continue to receive the software benefits included in Action Pack, you will need to renew your subscription for another year. When you do renew your subscription, you will be renewing for the current software that is included in the Action Pack (which no longer includes the previous Windows Desktop Operating Systems). At that point, you will no longer have licensing rights to Windows XP through your Action Pack subscription.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Microsoft US Senior Manager
Small Business Community Engagement
This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights