James Van Eaton
Hello and welcome to another edition of Backtalk, where we respond to your issues and concerns. As MSDN enters its fifth year of providing you with the software and technical information you need to develop for the Windows platform, I want to underscore the important role your suggestions have played in MSDN's maturation: the feedback we have received over the years in e-mail, from tradeshows, and from telephone surveys has been one of the driving forces behind the MSDN program's many additions and changes throughout its maturation, not to mention its very creation. So if you have an idea, let's hear it. If you like the way things are going, we like to hear that too!
Many of you have written to us with questions regarding your MSDN subscription and what its license allows for. Although I’m not a lawyer, I’ll try to explain some of the key questions that are most frequently asked.
The MSDN license, in a nutshell, allows only one person (you, the subscriber) to use the software delivered with your subscription. You cannot give away or sell discs that you do not need or use. You can, however, transfer your entire subscription by having the name (and address if necessary) of the subscription changed. You must surrender all discs received from the subscription to the new owner.
The 10-connection limitation on the BackOffice software included in Enterprise and Universal subscriptions should not be interpreted to mean that you have licenses. Up to 10 connections are permitted, so you can have non-MSDN–licensed users connecting to the MSDN BackOffice components for development and testing, but not to use the BackOffice server software as part of a production environment (as a repository for source code, an electronic mail system, and so on).
You (the subscriber) can install the software on up to 10 machines, but you (and only you) can use the software. Additional MSDN licenses are available through the Open License program (MOLP). Multiple License Packs (MLP) may be purchased for individual software components. These volume licenses are not available directly from Microsoft—you must purchase them through a software reseller.
The full MSDN Master End User License Agreement (EULA) is on your Library CD and online at http://www.microsoft.com/msdn/subscribe/eula.htm. To learn more about MOLP, MLP, and software licensing in general, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/licenses.
Have a cookie
In case you hadn't heard, the contents of the MSDN Library CD are now available online via www.microsoft.com/msdn. To access the Library online, you must first register yourself by telling us a little bit about yourself. After you’ve answered a few questions, a "cookie" is sent to your browser, which is your "open, sesame!" to the Library area. Being the dynamic movers-and-shakers of the development community that you are, many of you use more than one computer and have had to register yourself on each one in order to get the magic cookie. "What a PITA!" was one Mark Sussamen's terse assessment of his re-registration experience. "Why do you ask for a password if I can't use it to gain entry from my home computer?" Many of you have also reported that subsequent attempts to browse the MSDN Library online from the same computer sometimes fail, forcing you to re-register. At the time of this writing the team is working on both of these issues and should have them resolved by the time you read this. Please visit www.microsoft.com/msdn/library/regfaq.htm for the latest information regarding the MSDN Online registration.
Remember, we aren't psychic, so if you don't tell us how you feel about the Developer Network program we can't know how to improve it. Keep those letters coming!
Please send comments and suggestions about the Microsoft Developer Network program to msdn@microsoft.com.