Looks like the January Action pack will have the Demo Showcase for SBSC Partners.

http://blogs.technet.com/chrisp/archive/2006/11/27/the-demo-showcase-for-uk-small-business-partners.aspx

Does anyone have info as to whether the Business Version of Vista coming in the Action Pack is the version that supports Bit-Locker?

This would be quite cool to demo to potential customers - hardware permitting of course!

Thanks for the clarification David - I'll start saving the pennies now:-)

Given the ever increasing importance placed on securing mobile data (especially laptops) perhaps Microsoft will consider moving Bitlocker down the foodchain to enable small business users to benefit from the technology.

I can hear those smaller companies already - "What - £450(ish) per laptop!!

Of course if it was included as a benefit of Open Value Subscription well.......

Just a thought.

Merry Christmas to all in the MS SBS team.

Thanks for the clarification.

I've just viewed the on demand Licencing webcast from 5th Dec - wish I'd seen it prior to the above post!!!

It confirmed Vista Enterprise is avaialable to all customers with SA on Vista OEM\FPP PCs - excellent as lomg as the small business has more than 5 pcs.

Looking forward to the next licencing webcast in February.

Cheers

Alastair

Are we getting Groove in the Action Pack?  It seems to be a neat collaboration tool, but we need to see it working before we can recommend it.

Any news on the UK Pricing for upgrade to ultimate for MAP Customers

Also is it full version of Vista Buisiness or just an upgrade cd like it is with XP Pro

I am also Curious about Groove 2007 Server in the Action Pack.

I read somewhere that there was some kind of OEM offer if you ordered your actionpack before dec 31st?  any idea what the offer was?

I received the January 2007 Actionpack. I was very disappointed at the Vista Version being an Upgrade only version. So I have to have Windows XP running on a machine first. Meanwhile back in the real world its really inconvenient to have to have a prior OS on a test machine.

Is the version of Vista 32bit or 64bit?

Thanks for the reply David.

I have only installed Vista on one of my machines so far, it was one that was dual booting XP and Beta 2 of Vista. I booted up using the Upgrade DVD it saw the existing OS's and the the message was along the lines of "install vista from an operating currently installed". I read this to be no prior OS no upgrade.

I would love for someone to correct me.

Colin

Fix the Action Pack abuse by curing the disease, don't just treat the symptoms as you're suggesting above.

No one should be able to get an Action Pack subscription without some jumping through of hoops to prove they meet the qualifying requirements.

Go after the abusers. Send FAST after them. Get them fined, prosecuted, whatever it takes. PLEASE STOP MISTREATING legitimate Action Pack subscribers just because MS systems and procedures are inadequate to prevent the real abusers from playing the system.

As for Vista Business upgrade being an antipiracy measure, please don't make me laugh. Pirates will crack any and all protection on the full boxed versions soon enough. All you've done is make the legitimate Action Pack subscribers life so much more difficult, wasted more of our precious time and pis*ed off a load of MS advocates.

Come on Dave! I know you've got to tow the party line but the arguments are futile and full of holes.

Just wondered if anyone has found out how/where to apply for the upgrade for Ultimate edition? I can see no sign of it on any partner website.

Can any one help?

If you take advantage of the Windows Anytime Upgrade to convert some of your Vista Business Upgrade Licenses -> Vista Ultimate, will you be able to use Vista Ultimate Media to do a fresh install on a machine?

The thoughts of going XP Pro -> Vista Business Upgrade -> Vista Ultimate sends shivers down my spine.  The software pirates have it easier than the legit Microsoft Partners!

If a partner (or anyone) was to use Windows Anytime Upgrade to convert Vista Business Upgrade -> Vista Ultimate, would they get media or a Key to do a clean install of Vista Ultimate?

The thought of having to go XP Pro -> Vista Business Upgrade -> Vista Ultimate on any machine that I desire to do a fresh install on doesn't give me a good feeling.

The software pirates have it better than Microsoft's own partners if this is the case!

Hi david,

you mentioned actionpack forums?  can you tell me where they are located?  specifically any forums for uk actionpack subscribers.

Thanks

It says that our country is not eligable any news on why we can't upgrade, luckily my sector is taking well to getting vista which is good

David,

I am in the UK it says that it is not available for my country.

Thanks

Neil

Thank you for your interest in Windows® Vista™. Website language   English Español Français  

Windows Anytime Upgrade is not available in your country/region at this time. You can purchase the edition of Windows Vista you are interested in at a Microsoft authorized merchant.

That is the message I get for being in the uk, great hey

Ok, here's some interesting info on the UK MAPS Anytime Upgrade issue.

As of yesterday, if from the UK you go to www.windowsanytimeupgrade.com/maps you get a 'Not available in your Country/Region message'.

As of 30th Jan, if you go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/anytimeupgrade.mspx you get a 'This facility ($139USD Ultimate Upgrade) will be available from 30th Jan, please check back soon' message.

Today (01 Feb) I rang the MS Regional Centre and spoke withthe Action Pack team who HAD NO IDEA OR INFO ABOUT AN ULTIMATE UPGRADE FOR MAPS! I directed the guy to the url above and he put me on hold whilst he read it before telling me he was completely unaware of this upgrade option.

After doing all he could to help he eventually discovered that this is a US/Canada option only and not available to UK MAPS subscribers although due to the fact it allowed a UK user to go to the page and doesn't mention US/Canada Only on there he is raising it with the powers that be and getting back to me next week (He even gave me a call-back timeslot!).

David - do you have any light to shed on this issue? MS just dont seem to be talking across borders! I fail to see the point in MS Partners getting £1000's of software for £199p/a and then expected to pay more than half that for a consumer anytimeupgrade that covers just one of those licences!

I whole heartedly back what MikeP said and would like to echo his comments..

Craig

Wow, I'm super lost. What is the deal with the $139 upgrade? We have to PAY $139*10 for a license that expires in a year? Furthermore to do so we have to do an upgrade from XP to Business to Ultimate to learn the product to sell to clients? (great job Microsoft getting us the Action pack 3 days after the launch of your product....my customers are loving the "I haven't seen it" responses....thanks again....)

Who on this earth wants to start with a dirty install?

I too am a bit concerned about the only version of vista included. I am currently on Windows XP MediaCenter. Any the only upgrade path available to me with my action pack is to do a clean install of Vista Business (using the Easy Transfer program to move my setting) and then purchase the "upgrade" to Ultimate. The problem is though, while all of my settings will be saved, I have to REINSTALL all of my previous applications. That is a really tough upgrade path to 1) manually do and 2) justify paying the upgrade to ultimate .

I forgot to mention the main 'business' reason for all this fuss...

MS have probably made the assumption that MAPS users are business users and as such should have no need for anything but the Business edition of Vista. This is correct if we were using the software for the sole purpose of 'internal use' i.e. running our own businesses. However the majority of my clients, and like I'm sure many other MS Partners who use the Action Pack, are on Volume Licencing Agreements, as such they will be getting (and using) technologies such as BitLocker in their Enterprise editions that at present I have no experience of.

Several of our clients operate within the fields of healthcare, education, financial services - areas that could all benefit from advanced encryption functions...It's a shame that I'll be selling this blind because MS doesn't feel it necessary to include top-end technology in it's "Demonstration and Testing" Action Pack.

Office 2007 Enterprise was included in the MAPS, working on the logic of the Vista licence, wouldn't Pro or Pro+ have been good enough for MAPS users? NO. Why not? Because we need first hand experience of all the apps / technologies in order to effectively sell them. Let's be honest, I was less than impressed with XP MCE, I'm sure Ultimate will look very pretty when running Media Centre components, but I'm personally not that bothered. The issue here is that top-end technology (namely BitLocker) that has a real business use and provides a huge selling opportunity for many partners is, to us, simply words on a spec sheet. Can anyone provide a valid business reason as to why including at least one ultimate licence would have anything but a positive effect on Microsoft? I doubt it.

--------------------------

David Overton said:

2) If you buy the upgrade to Ultimate - it is for as long as you subscribe to Action Pack and Vista is the supplied OS - meaning no-one has discussed how this transfers when we ship Vienna (the next Windows OS - a few years away yet :-))

------------------------------------

So then the $139 gets me the right to use that key the same 10 times as the XP or Vista Business that comes in the action pack?

-------------------------------------

David Overton ALSO said:

3) If you want to invest in a demo system, your choices are:

- Order the Demo Resourse Toolkit as previously mentioned

- Build a system and don't put in the key or activate - it will last until the timeout - long enough for most demos

- Make the investment into an OS so you can show your customers - if you don't see the value in the upgrade, why will they - if you want to sell, you have to live it - and that includes spending money sometimes - feeling blunt today as been on the go for 5 days and more to come.

-------------------------------------------------

A Demo is good for just that, a demo. We need machines to train on and troubleshoot on. As near as I can tell, I HAVE spent money....on the Action pack. I'm not asking for anything the package didn't claim to be. The purpose of the action pack is to get the technology into the hands of the partners so they can use it, sell the product, and support it. I don't think its crazy under that umbrella to think we should be seeing the product BEFORE the public.

I also think the MAPS team should wake up to the fact that business users aren't the only people needing support. Half of our business is supporting home customers.

Despite how it may sound, I think the action pack is a great value and an excellent opportunity for us to get hands on software we normally wouldn't. I just want the teams to think "worst case scenario" when deciding what to send out.

David: wondering if there is any update on when we in the UK can do this ? As atm we still get

ether

1:  www.windowsanytimeupgrade.com/maps you get a 'Not available in your Country/Region message'

2: As of Feb 4th, if you go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/anytimeupgrade.mspx you get a 'This facility ($139USD Ultimate Upgrade) will be available from 30th Jan, please check back soon' message.

No, I don't NEED 10 copies, but the offer isn't clear so I was trying to find an answer somewhere. Thanks for the clarification.

We're a "tiny" business so we don't even use the 10 seats we are entitled to, however; the investment in hardware alone for Vista ultimate is a good punch in a tiny firms budget. I don't EXPECT my customers to upgrade (though some certainly will of their own accord) whereas the terms of the MAP do force me to upgrade. So it's apples to oranges.  

A business doesn't need Vista Ultimate, unless of course your business is supporting Vista Ultimate. Even you mention the default for Microsoft employees is Enterprise.....a step over business....

Again, I'll do what I have to to forward my business, I just think the choice by Microsoft is contrary to the mission of the action pack.

David,

Thank you for your time. I know its not fun having to be the public face in situations like this as both sides have valid arguements and you can't do much other than hear both sides.

As far as VL goes, most of the business clients I deal with get whatever is installed on their machine when they order it so I don't get much chance to sell that option.

As to the people who abused the OEM licenses....We could have a long disertation on how making rules and restrictions more complicated only hurts law abiding citizens. Those who break the law anyhow don't care that you made a new law. All this policy has accomplished is making it harder on those that abide by the rules. Criminals don't care about gun laws....they aren't buying their guns in the store anyhow. Tie a license key to a partner with a registration and nail those that violate it rather than making it worse on everyone who was following the rules to begin with. But that discussion could digress into its own mess so I'm not going to keep pushing on that one. I suspect it will fall on deaf ears in Redmond anyhow.

Lastly, I agree that Vista can be run on much less than recommended. I think you and I agree though that we need to walk the walk to truly get a feel for what our users are dealing with. We install across a platform from low end to high end. If our hardware is radically different from our user base we can't relate to what their experience is or should be.

With that, I again extend my thanks for your personal responses and we'll consider the horse dead.

So are we able to get the $139 upgrade or not?  As we seem to be going around in corners, it would be useful to have all the vista platforms as I personally support a lot of home users who will by their nature get ultimate and also home premuim and as the buisiness edition has none of these features on I will not be able support them effecivily, yes I could have them on virtual pcs on trial versions but this will surely run out after thirty days?

We all only need 1 seat of operating systems or ten seats as most people that get Action Pack are small buisiness's as the larger business's will surely be either gold or certified partners and get MSDN instead???

David,

Do we need to buy the media then or is the upgrade on the MAPS disc?

Well, I can tell you this much:

WAIT for David's answer. I went ahead and purchased the upgrade without media. I thought (from previous posts) this would get me the upgrade key to be used at any time. WRONG.

You have to run the upgrade process online immediately after the purchase. Lucky me I was doing it on a second PC and am now stuck with no files in my digital locker and no way to run the upgrade now as Vista isn't installed...

These things really have to be documented better......(not blaming David on that!)

Thank you david, for all the effort you are going through!

David:  Just wondering if the US have got back to you re us (UK) not been able to buy the upgrade ( see my post a few days ago).

Regards

Jason

So i notice the upgrade links are now working (www.windowsanytimeupgrade.com/maps and https://emea.windowsanytimeupgradestore.com/WAU_DIRECT/home.aspx) although I'm a little puzzled as to why it costs £110 PER LICENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

MS has arranged several merchants to provide this upgrade service to consumers (as well as providing it direct throught he urls above). There is a huge discrepancy in the pricing...

Comet -> https://comet.windowsanytimeupgrade-emea.com/WAU/Home.aspx -> £94.99

PC World -> https://pcworld.windowsanytimeupgrade-emea.com/WAU/Home.aspx -> £109.99

FNAC -> https://fnac.windowsanytimeupgrade-emea.com/WAU/Home.aspx -> £118.00

Vaio -> https://vaio.windowsanytimeupgrade-emea.com/WAU/Home.aspx -> £80.00

To see the complete list of EU merchants see https://www.windowsanytimeupgrade-emea.com/WAU/SelectMerchant.aspx

So does it matter which one we go with? If I had a choice I'd rather pay a MS Merchant £80 than MS themselves £110.

Also, this is the same price as that offered to consumers...where is the Action Pack discount that's been talked about so much?

So many questions, so few answers - I know it's not your fault David but this is just getting silly. Where are MS standing on this issue? From here it looks like they haven't ventured outside Redmond!

Thanks for that David, I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that we are grateful. I kinda believe that much of what has been achieved so far is as a result of this blog. It's not about getting the best of everything for nothing, but about relative pricing. £199 a year gets us what, £15k+ of software. £150 for 1x Vista upgrade doesn't seem to be relative to the Action Pack pricing model.

Oh and one last thing, I got my Action Pack update by around the 15th Jan, I love Macs and think OS X is a damn good OS but hey....Microsoft have done a good job with Vista (allbeit a little over-complicated in areas such as upgrading!) and my WOW has most definitely started!!

I was just wondering about other versions of Vista?  I sell specialist software for the window & door industry and have been trying it on Vista Ultimate Beta which is dual booted with XP on my main machine.  Everything seems to work except for some initial problems with the new user account settings (administrator is not administrator anymore!!!) However reports are now coming in from customers about problems with Home basic and Home Premium.  Can i use my upgrade disk to create 30day demo systems to trouble shoot these problems or do i have to buy one of every version????

Things where so much easier with just Home and Pro (none of my customers ever really understood MCE)

Hi David

Thanks for all your time on this, I, as most here would agree think you are one hell of a person.

I await the answers from corp from you. I am in no hurry to upgrade to Ultimate, that been said I am getting alot of calls daily from clients that have !Heard!! all about it.

TBH I am having more of a problem with selling them Bis Edition as it is, as the so called leak that SP1 is inc in 2ndQ 07.

Regards

Jason

Any word on Groove yet?  Didn't see it in January and April just showed up yesterday, but it was Groove-less.  Thanks!