Some good news regarding Microsoft licensing in virtual environments – near the end of March, Microsoft announced that customers with active Software Agreements on Windows desktop software can freely access virtualized Windows desktop instances without additional charge. This is an important and welcome departure from the prior model of Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) which resulted in additional costs to customers contemplating the move to a virtual desktop environment.
The critical point here, of course, is an active Software Assurance agreement. Recent cost cutting measures, coupled with reluctance in moving from the stability of a Windows XP platform to the Vista platform, have resulted in Software Assurance being dropped in some instances.