The Windows per User subscription is a Frankenstein that doesn't really license users and that creates a compliance threshhold that no customer is likely to meet.

Predictability and planning take a hit as Microsofts begins charging for updates, forces updates on PCs, abandons fixed support timelines, and changes functionality on shipping products.

A new version of Windows Server brings significant change, and many customers will see higher costs in the future. In some cases, licensing rights are reduced, and customers who take advantage of a "new Software Assurance benefit"--the right to move Windows Server licenses they own to Microsoft's cloud, will pay dearly.

If Microsoft pretends that customers never owned some SQL core licenses, will customers believe they're underlicensed? Sadly, many probably will. Don't be one of them.

Software Assurance is more than 10 years old. It needs to change to reduce its harmful impact on customers and Microsoft. This 9-part series lays it out.

Unannounced changes to Microsoft's rules on transferring Software Assurance illustrate how cloud licensing requirements are having an impact on traditional on-premise products.

Some Microsoft licenses can be rough on your pocket book. Buy one, and you're committed to buy many more. In one case, a $50,000 license commits some customers to spending millions of dollars more. Furthermore, the rules are well-hidden. We bring them out to air. (Note: licensing changes to Microsoft server products have rendered some of the observations here moot.)