Power Tools and Software Assurance

a-foton » Power Tools and Software Assurance

a-foton » Power Tools and Software Assurance — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:06:42 GMT

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re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

ramonduraes — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 02:46:03 GMT

I have a client who was not SA and can not update the TFS 2005 to 2008. So I recommend to all customers always make that contract.

I see the Power Tools not as an update, but as an opportunity to test new features that will advance in the new version.

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

Marcel Scherpenisse — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:31:30 GMT

What about the partner's in the partner program's (ISV or any other develment program)? They have access to the latest releases, but dont' have Software Assurance.

If I understand your thinking correctly, they couldn't profit from the power toys when those are reales to SA customers only...

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

Joe — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:09:24 GMT

Allow me to chime in with Mr. Scherpenisse and say that we are using the TFS 2008 licenses that we receive as a Microsoft Certified Partner in custom development, and I would be extremely sad to see access to the power tools removed...we use them today but it would be difficult to justify the value of a separate license under SA just to have access to the power tools. Rather than a negative approach like removing access to something, perhaps you could look at other avenues to add value to SA.

Should everyone get the Power Tools for Free?

Microsoft UK Developer Tools Team — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:03:30 GMT

I don't like to talk much about licensingy things - it's not my area and I'm no expert, but this is important.

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

Steve — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:32:44 GMT

I thought you said early on that Powertoys were a way of fast tracking new features in between release cycles? That implies several things:

Powertoys in version 1.0 are standard features in version 2.0

Version 2.0 will introduce new powertoys of it's own.

In this scenario SA is not a factor - it's exactly what it should be - a subscription to enable upgrades to the next full version.

...and speaking as a Partner - don't forget us!!

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

Dave — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:47:51 GMT

Don't forget that it's not all about selling TFS2008 to those who already own TFS2005 - you can also sell to those who don't own any version yet. Knowing that the product is constantly being improved with PT releases makes it that much better to join in now rather than wait for the next version. Then you get paid twice!

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

Russ — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:30:20 GMT

My company is a SA subscriber, and we have paid for VSTS/TFS all around. As such, I don't necessarily mind it if you release the powertools to SA customers early, BUT, I would say that its more typical that the "owner" of the SA license is not the developer, and therefore the developer, even though is covered by SA, is still left to get their tools at the non-SA pace.

In the ghetto...

MarcT — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:16:31 GMT

Currently, SA is a purely economic decision for us - will the cost of SA be lower than the cost of upgrading? Adding features into the mix will further complicate the already insanely complicated landscape of VS licensing (I know several developers who gave up on TFS b/c they couldn't figure out the licensing - one thought they had to buy a 10K seat of VS Team for every dev).

Also, it pushes those of us without SA into a low-feature ghetto. Try taking away your own teams' Power Tools and see how long before they run screaming from the building (especially the admins, and especially if those admins are merely devs just trying to keep the dang thing running).

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

etropic — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:59:11 GMT

Funny actually. I always viewed power tools as what should have been in the previous release! In my mind, the power tools are a way for the MS devs to "Catch up" on basic features that they didn't have time to previously implement. For example... the new alerts management will be great! But honestly, was the existing alert system actually a FEATURE? Unless you want to handle your own command line code, the current one is near useless. That's why projects at codeplex that add the functionality are so important for "near early adopters". Getting alerts management into a power tool is a "catch up" feature, not something ground breaking that is an "upcoming glimpse at the NEXT software". Power tools are "official" replacements for stuff the community write on their own because no one understands why it wasn't there in the first place.

Just my 010 cents.

(Having said that, I spend the last 80 work hours in visual source safe with a small two dev team. I've almost forgotten how nicer TFS is and how much it has added to the whole SDLC in general.) :)

VSTS Links - 07/09/2008

Team System News — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:32:03 GMT

Steve St. Jean on TFS Codename "Rosario" April 2008 CTP VPC Download List Brian Randell on...

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

Miguel Madero — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:16:58 GMT

I think powertoys are really important for everyone. I think there are a lot of features when going from one version to another to think that PTs could be better if integrated as part of a next version to have more to show or mention.

What could make sens is not releasing PTs for previous version, for example, we have not been able to migrate to TFS2008, but most of the PTs work with '05, well at least we have VS08, so to put it another way, we already pay for a newer product in order to get the benefit. Call it SA or simply upgrades or new buyers, but customers are paying already for what you guy are delivering as Power Toys and seen MS constantly releasing upgrades might be one of the reasons ppl is buying this products.

5 or 6 years ago we saw companies like SUN, Macromedia and others, specially in the open source space were releasing software more often than MS but now the PowerToys as well as intermediate releases as .NET 3.0 (which didnt needed a new IDE), Silverlight and soon the SP1 (that has a lot more to offer than simple bug fixes) among other examples are a way for Microsoft to keep up with a quick innovative world. Hope you guys keep doing a good job and taking the right decisions.

Miguel Madero

re: Power Tools and Software Assurance

bharry — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:58:15 GMT

I appreciate all of the feedback on this. It seems like there's a lot of passion and concern around this. We will continue to think about what the right thing to do here is but make sure we keep your concerns in mind.

Brian