Today I was asked whether Windows 7 Ultimate can be activated through KMS, since we’re primarily busy with Windows 7 Enterprise I couldn’t instantly provide an answer (I prefer to first check out things instead of providing an incorrect answer). So unless I have overlooked something…… only Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise can be activated using a KMS Infrastructure.

Source: Windows Partner Activation Guide

A good FAQ about Microsoft Volume licensing. Details here

Although I have been working with Office 2010 for a while, I wasn’t aware of the KMS Server specific requirements until today when we were asked to load the Office 2010 KMS key into one of our customers KMS servers.

A dedicated server is not needed to run KMS for Office 2010. A KMS host is a lightweight service, and you can co-host an Office 2010 and Windows KMS host. However, only Windows Server 2003, volume editions of Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 are supported as Office 2010 KMS hosts

…..hmmm, must be a typo, they probably forgot to list Windows Server 2008……but no, this isn’t a typo it’s real, Windows Server 2008 is not a supported platform to host the KMS Server for Office 2010 activations and yes Windows Server 2003 is supported. Did they just forgot that in between Server 2003 and Server 2008 R2 they had shipped Server 2008? No they didn’t, see the comment below posted on the Office 2010 activation forum by Ted Way who works on the Office Team.

In short, WS 2008 and WS 2008 R2 have different code bases.  It would take a substantial amount of work and require a service pack, not a patch.  A few common questions:

- Why is WS 2003 supported but not WS 2008?  WS 2003 did not have the KMS service, so it was easier to add the KMS service.

- Why can WS 2008 R2 and W7 be activated just by patching WS 2008?  All this patch contains are license files that recognize the new KMS host key to activate WS 2008 R2 and W7.  No change to the KMS service was required.  The KMS service that shipped in WS 2008 does not meet the requirements that Office has.

- What are the alternatives?  Use a WS 2003, WS 2008 R2, or W7 box as your Office KMS host.  They can also be on DNS, and Office will try all the KMS hosts it finds on DNS until one succeeds.  If you must use WS 2008, then you can run a WS 2003, WS 2008 R2, or W7 VM on the WS 2008 machine.

You’re frustrated, and rightly so.  I’m on the Office team, and believe me, if there was an easy way to get WS 2008 to work as an Office KMS host, I would be jumping on it.  It does not make sense for us from a business perspective to have any hindrance in Office deployment, so we would not arbitrarily impose this burden on you, however arbitrary it seems.

Office and Windows did work very closely together during the O14 cycle, and that’s why W7 and WS 2008 R2 support Office.  However, WS 2008 had already shipped, which meant any changes would have to be done post-RTM.

Obviously this is not the answer you want to hear, and my goal is not to make you happy in this response, but I hope you at least have a better understanding of why things are the way they are.

More about Office 2010 Volume Activation:

Office 2010 Volume Activation
Volume Activation for Office 2010
Frequently asked questions: Volume activation of Office 2010
Volume activation quick start guide for Office 2010

Assume you are at a client site and plan to deploy a Windows Server (2008 / 2008-R2) or Windows Clients (Windows Vista / Windows 7) and want to check if they do already have KMS Services running on their network.

It’s very simple. Just open a command prompt and type the following command:

nslookup -type=srv _vlmcs._tcp

If KMS Services are present on the network the results will be listed as shown in the picture below.

Related Content
Upgrade your existing KMS Service to support Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2
Volume Activation changes in Windows7
Fundamentals of Volume Activation

Most IT pro’s probably don’t have a problem in getting access to the Windows 7 operating system installation sources because they can access them through their corporate volume license agreement and/or MSDN or TechNet subscription. But unfortunately there are still some out there who do not have such easy access to these sources.

For the use of Windows 7 on a primary device (the one that one uses on a daily basis) an official version of Windows 7 that comes either from the Corporate Volume media source or a separately acquired copy or pre-installed with a new computer must be used.

But if you need Windows 7 just for evaluation purposes Microsoft provides the following 2 options:

Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial
The Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day trial program allows you to download the Windows 7 Enterprise 32 or 64 bit installation sources which can be used for evaluation purposes during 90 days. The Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day trial can be downloaded from here. Note that prior downloading the sources you must fill in a form which also includes a question about your occupation. If you select a profile that does not fit to this program, you don’t get access to the sources.

Microsoft Windows 7 90-Day Eval VHD
This is a preconfigured virtual machine set contained within the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format. To run Windows 7 within the VHD you must have access to a system that has Microsoft Hyper-V installed. The Microsoft Windows 7 90-Day Evaluation VHD can be downloaded from here. I recommend to read the Readme prior downloading the sources.

Finally let me also mention the Windows 7 Test Drive which provides access to a Windows 7 client that runs remotely on a Microsoft hosted virtual infrastructure.

Has your organization ever acquired PCs without operating systems preinstalled, and then used its Volume Licensing agreement to install the full operating system on those PCs? Download the Windows Licensing Fact Sheet to learn more about Windows Licensing.

If you are already running an existing KMS Service within your environment, and you do not plan to install a new KMS Service, the following information might be of interest if you have plans for deploying Windows 7 or Server 2008-R2 systems.

Update for Windows Server 2003 (KB968915)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f3a0d90c-b7fd-44cf-bf81-11587adc599f&displaylang=en

Update for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (KB968915)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1678151b-b577-476f-87da-df54024b98e2&displaylang=en

An update is available that installs Key Management Service (KMS) 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and for later versions of Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=968915

This update installs Key Management Service (KMS) 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and for later versions of Windows Server 2003. KMS 1.2 provides support for the following KMS client installations:

· Windows Server 2008 R2

· Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2)

· Windows 7

· Windows Vista and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2)

If you are looking for a very easy 5 minute video that explains Volume Activation for Windows 7, then click here

Additional sources

TechNet Volume Activation

Volume Activation changes in Windows7

Windows 7 Activation Improvements

As I wrote the previous blog entry I started thinking about all the other products I come across in my daily professional life and started creating the table shown below.

For those that are still running Windows 2000 Server systems, it’s about time to start migrating these because next year the extended support will end.

More product lifecycle information can be found on the Microsoft Product Lifecycle site.

On April 14th mainstream support for Windows XP will end. for the next 5 years the operating system goes into extended support. The table below illustrates the differences between mainstream and extended support.

The Microsoft Windows XP product page explains it as following:

Mainstream Support delivers complimentary and paid support, free security updates, and bug fixes to all Windows customers who purchase a retail copy of Windows XP (i.e., a shrink-wrapped, not pre-installed copy). Mainstream Support for Windows XP will continue through April 2009.

Extended Support delivers free security updates to all Windows customers. Customers can also pay for support on a per incident basis. Extended Support for Windows XP will continue until April 2014. New bug fixes require the Extended Hotfix Support program.

More Information:

Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy

Microsoft Support Lifecycle for Windows XP

Microsoft Support Lifecycle for Windows 2000

Microsoft Support Lifecycle for Windows Vista Enterprise

Most recent Microsoft Volume Licensing documentation can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e8798816-b0ba-4337-ba38-8fe2cf32b5d8&DisplayLang=en