Quick Guide to Finding Cheap (and legal) Microsoft Software Licenses

Over the past decade, licenses have become one of the most fundamentally important components of owning software. Without the correct kind of license, you can potentially lose a software product you have become dependent upon or—in the most dramatic cases—even face criminal penalties.

The world of licensing can be confusing, frustrating, and occasionally ambiguous. As time has gone on, the licensing process has become increasingly complicated, and many users of Microsoft products have been looking for ways to alleviate themselves from their struggles.

Microsoft currently uses several different categories to describe its associated licenses. Generally, most Microsoft products can be categorized as having Retail (also known as FFP), Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and Volume licenses. Whether you are working from home or working in a specific industry, the kind of license that is going to be best for you will depend on the specific products you need and what you plan to use them for.

What kind of Microsoft Products require a license to operate?

Technically speaking, every Microsoft product is going to require you to have some sort of license to operate it. This includes every component of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visio, Windows 10, and all others.

Sometimes you may not even realize that you formally hold a ‘license’. It may have come built into your computer (especially if you have an older PC), or it may be something you have agreed to a long time ago without ever having fully read over the fine print. Regardless of what your circumstance might be, you want to be sure to have a license to use all Microsoft products.

Not having a license, or having an insufficient license, is something that Microsoft takes very seriously. The company does not want its products to be downloaded, distributed, and exploited freely, and because of this, they conduct periodic ‘audits’ on many of those they know are using their products. If you are expansive, for-profit organization, you are particularly likely to be audited. But even if you are just an ordinary and casual PC user, you can still be audited as well.

To avoid the undesirable hassle of a failed audit—and for moral reasons—it is a good idea to make sure you are always properly licensed. By having the proper license for every Microsoft software product, you are currently using, you (or your organization) can operate much more smoothly.

Retail Licenses

Unless you are working in a large group or within a large industry, if you are looking for any software beyond what was pre-installed into your computer, you are very likely going to require a retail license. These licenses are also more formally referred to as FFP (Fully Packaged Product).

FFPs are the quickest, easiest, and most standard licenses you will encounter in the software industry. If you are using four or less computers for whatever it is you may be doing, an FFP ought to be sufficient.

When you purchase and install any new Microsoft product, you will be asked to agree to a specific licensing agreement. Even if you did not read the entire thing before agreeing to it, it is important to understand that this agreement has a number of rights and responsibilities associated with it.

When compared to other options (specifically, Volume Licenses), FFPs are generally limited. Though you will certainly be able to use the software for its standard uses, you will be limited in the number and ways in which the software is downloaded. Microsoft (rightfully) considers its software to be ‘intellectual property’. Because FFPs are associated with the least expensive (post-OEM) software purchases, naturally, they grant the individual user the right to the least amount of property.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Licenses

Original Equipment Manufacturer Licenses can sometimes be a bit more confusing than retail licenses. As the name OEM might imply, these are licenses to use the software that was provided to you by the original manufacturer. This is the software that came pre-installed when you originally purchased your computer.

The OEM License Agreement is something you agree to upon the very first time you are using computer. The software is associated with your specific computer and cannot be transferred to another or sold in any capacity. Because of this, it’s much easier to discounts. Cheap OEM software can be purchased online through a certified shop or reseller. These are comparatively the least flexible licenses available, but they are typically associated with the original cost of computer. This makes them very convenient to acquire, though sometimes easy to forget that you actually own them.

OEM licenses do not have any transfer rights. They do, however, allow you to ‘downgrade’ to up to two earlier versions of the product at hand. So if your OEM licensing rights grant you the ability to use Windows 8, and you would prefer to be using Windows 7, you will actually have the opportunity to do so.

Volume Licenses

As you could probably guess, Volume Licenses are designed for organizations that require a large volume of software agreements. Typically, the term Volume License applies to any organization that is going to be using five or more computers.

In an effort to cater to businesses and organizations of all sizes, Microsoft offers several different specialized agreement types within the broader category of ‘Volume Licenses’. These include Open, Open Value, Select Plus, and Enterprise Agreements.

Generally, Open and Open Value Agreements are designed for small to medium size businesses. These can be useful for coordinating the activities of multiple different computers. Furthermore, when compared to the alternative—purchasing many FFP or OEM agreements—Open Value Agreements can potentially save your organization a tremendous amount of money over time.

Select Plus and Enterprise Agreements are similar to Open and Open Value Agreements but are designed for notably larger organizations. Where the line between a ‘medium’ and a ‘large’ sized organization is, exactly, is something that is rather ambiguous. But nevertheless, large group purchases can enable your organization to save a tremendous amount of money over time, and also gain the sort of operating advantage you have been looking for.

Regardless of what kind of licensing agreement you or your organization may be using, it is very important to know the rights and responsibilities that are associated with it. The rights to download, transfer, and use a given software product are something you are inevitably going to want to be informed about.

Though it may seem tedious—and even painful—to read through your licensing agreement before signing it, can be tremendously beneficial in the long-run. There, you will be able to know exactly what you are getting yourself into, learn more about the software you have paid good money to use, and ultimately, better achieve any organizational goals you may currently be pursuing.