Official MSDN Subscriptions Blog : Product Keys

Some Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 Activation resources

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:31:00 GMT

We know that product activation can be a very complicated thing to figure out for developers, where environements are constantly torn down and rebuilt, and activations are not unlimited.

I was just alerted of a few more resources that you may find useful:

Product Activation in Development Environments for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Volume Activation: http://www.technet.com/volumeactivation

Converting KMS Clients to MAK - required since Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 install automatically as KMS clients. A MAK can be installed during or any time after operating system installation.

And as always, if you are wiping and rebuilding more often than 30 days, you may want to consider not activating at all since many products allow usage for 30 days prior to activating.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM - some follow up

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:59:00 GMT

We see that everyone seems to be getting their bits and keys ok for Windows 7. Demand has been phenomenal, and WWW traffic overall today very high, so speeds may be a bit slower than you are used to.

There have been several follow up questions I thought I would address:

Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM will be released in a few weeks (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Italian). At the same time, Windows 7 Client in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese will be releasing.

Academic Alliance Administrators that have a Subscriptions account also have access to the bits and keys today. I believe the files have to be picked up and moved over to other AA systems though separate from the MSDN Subscriptions site. I think it is safe to assume they are working on that now.

Product Keys

There were eight product keys made available today. Different Subscriptions programs and levels have access to different keys potentially.

Released today:

OEM key for Windows 7 Starter
Retail keys for Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, Home Basic, and Home Premium
KMS and/or MAK keys for Windows 7 Enterprise. See Volume Activation Operations Guide

Hope that helps

MSDN Subscribers: Windows 7 Beta Downloads, Keys, and Providing Feedback

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 07:13:00 GMT

Many of you have successfully found the Windows 7 Beta Downloads and Keys, but some have not. Also, many of you have asked how you can provide feedback on the Windows 7 Beta. Hopefully the information below will answer these questions if you still need help.

You must have an active MSDN Subscription to download the files or claim product keys from the MSDN Subscriptions Site, and you must be signed in with your Windows Live ID. Need to Buy or Renew a Subscription?

Product Downloads:

Windows 7 Beta files on MSDN (adjust the language filters for other languages - a few have been released)

Windows 7 Beta files on Akamai (Top Downloads list) on MSDN

Product Keys:

Adjacent to the Downloads at MSDN

On the Product Keys list pages at MSDN

The downloads can be used for 30 days prior to activation, in case you have encountered problems or delays in claiming your product keys. You have access to 10 product keys. If you need more than that, you will need to contact Support to have additional keys provisioned for you.

Providing Feedback on the Windows 7 Beta:

You have asked us how you can provide feedback on the Beta, since the built in “Provide Feedback” links are not going to locations available to you.

We have worked with the Product Group to get you access to the "Connect" site where you can provide feedback.

Go to the MSDN Subscriptions Home Page and sign in to Windows Live ID. Follow the instructions and links under the top Article headline "Give us feedback on the Windows 7 Beta". If you don't see that headline, you are not recognized as an MSDN Subscriber.

New Subscriber Downloads and Product Keys UI is LIVE

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:08:00 GMT

As of 20:00 (8:00PM US PDT), the new Subscriber Downloads and Product Keys UI is live for MSDN and TechNet Subscribers.

There are a few site-wide (all MSDN and TechNet) CSS issues that were noticed in advance of the release, that will continue to be looked into by the appropriate teams.

Let us know what you think. Check out the walkthroughs and FAQ pages to assist you in using the new capabilities, and Enjoy!

New Subscriber Downloads and Product Keys UI - coming mid week

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:12:00 GMT

April 10 0930AM (US PST): Deployment activities are now underway. We expect this will take several hours to fully complete - probably late afternoon or early evening (US PST).

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In a post a few months back I told you about the improvements that Microsoft would be rolling out for Subscribers with a new Subscriber Downloads and Product Keys UI.

see http://blogs.msdn.com/msdnsubscriptions/archive/2008/01/21/msdn-subscriber-downloads-is-changing.aspx for more details.

In any case - it is coming this week mid week!

MSDN Subscriber Downloads is changing

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:16:00 GMT

3/5/08 UPDATE: We did not launch the new platform last week as we had expected to. We decided we should delay because the data re-architecting and validation was taking longer than we had anticipated. Additionally we identified a few usability issues we felt should be addresed before the v1.0 launch. We don't have a new launch date yet, but might have one by the end of this week. Our goal is to make sure we deliver an improved customer experience when we do launch, and we did not feel releasing last week would have accomplished that, and could have provided a worse customer experience.

4/7/08 UPDATE: It is coming this week (mid week)!

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In February we will launch the biggest update to the MSDN Subscriber Downloads experience yet. We’re making it a lot easier and faster to find your downloads and access your Product Keys, and we’re adding new features to help with exploring available content.

Better organized - Easily find the exact download you’re looking for, with all product versions organized by family

Logical layout - Access your Product Keys directly alongside your software downloads

See the MSDN Subscriber Downloads and Product Keys walkthrough for a preview of what’s coming, and to find out how to give us feeback.