MSDN-Supplied License Keys for Dummy (Me)

Factual Questions
1

I recently had occasion to use my employer-supplied MSDN subscription to get Windows 7 Pro and a license key to install on a test workstation. I had been under the impression that OS license keys obtained from MSDN were for application development and testing only (checking one’s mail or playing solitaire rendered the key invalid), but the key I was issued indicated that it was a “retail” key. On the surface, this would suggest that it’s mine to do with as I wish, subject only to my employer’s restrictions.

My problem is that the devilish details are somewhere in the bowels of either the MSDN subscription rules or the licensing agreement; and while I manage to delude myself into thinking that I’m reasonably intelligent, I don’t do well with such issues*. It may be that a license key obtained from MSDN is endowed with the same rights and privileges as one purchased from MS or a retailer, but this seems contrary to the Microsoft we all know and loathe.

So as usual, I throw myself on the mercy and knowledge of the Dope. Can anyone summarize the salient points of an MSDN-supplied license? While I’m certainly not about to go disseminating Windows 7 hither and yon, I do have a couple of PCs in need of updating. But I’m not about to make any moves in that direction without some understanding of the implications — especially since, as I mentioned, my subscription is supplied by my employer.

Anyone up to the challenge (if challenge it be)? The usual thanks in advance for any insights and/or suggestions.

*One of my all-time favorite television commercials featured a man who was universally hailed as a supergenuis: he saved governments and businesses from bankruptcy, reconciled relativity with quantum mechanics, figured out what happened to Schrödinger’s cat, etc, etc. Then he made the mistake of reading his life insurance policy. His eyes simultaneously crossed and rolled back in his head, and the next we saw of him he was dancing across a field with an idiot look on his face and waving his arms wildly, pursued by white-coated men carrying nets. This is how I feel about software licensing agreements.

2

MSDN subscriber here.

The license keys are perfectly valid 100% usable license keys. As long as you/your employer keeps up your MSDN subscription, you can use the keys the same way you’d use a retail key.

In fact, my main computer’s Windows 7 key is an MSDN key; I saved a couple hundred bucks when I bought the computer by using it instead of buying a copy of the OS. I called MS at the time to make sure that was OK, and was told pretty much what I said above - as long as the MSDN subscription is valid, the key is valid. They even told me that there was nothing that made it go poof if the MSDN subscription is terminated. The only thing that would happen is that if you tried to re-install with the same key and you didn’t have an active subscription, it wouldn’t let you.

3

As I understand it, MSDN licenses are fully valid for any purpose with the restriction that only MSDN subscribers are allowed to access systems using them. So, if you build an Exchange Server that is *only *used by you and the rest of the Development team (all of whom have their own MSDN subscriptions) then you can use your MSDN license for it, but as soon as a single ‘regular’ user connects to it, you need a ‘regular’ license.

Since you’re talking about Windows 7, which is (mostly) a single-user system, then you’re fine. Technically, I believe you’d be violating the license agreement if you let anyone who is not an MSDN subscriber log on to your machine, but even Microsoft isn’t actually *that *strict about such things.