Windows EULA on Windows Upgrades

[Sky-Knight]

Don't mistake the way I do business for the nature of the forum. As you can see, I'm the minority. The established business operating with authority, just like any other trade. Others see fit to operate as unlicensed, unbonded tradesman... which sadly is why our industry has such a terrible reputation.

And @NJW, No I don't get serviced 100% by the dealer. But my vehicles are only touched by ASE certified techs, which is basically the same thing. If you aren't MS Certified, you aren't qualified to touch a Microsoft product.

It seems to me that this forum is full of pizza techs pretending they are otherwise. And once again I'm left wondering why I'm here. The Action Pack is what gives me the tools I need to keep up with Microsoft's increasing development cycle, even on Windows 10 there are things you need to know to be ready for tomorrow. It's an indispensable tool in that regard.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Pompous ass - QED. You really, really have no idea what you're talking about, and live in a bubble of your own making.

Pompous ass maybe, but a bubble of his own making? Bullsh-t. If you service business clients then not having a Microsoft Partnership is harmful to your business. As he has stated the Action Pack, which you can only acquire as a partner, is a valuable resource to get ahold of NFR software. I run my own in-house domain that is linked to my Azure AD domain and my Office 365 accounts. Having this resource lets me offer the same setups, as needed, to my clients. For strictly residential clients I agree that it is not much of an advantage.

 

[Sky-Knight]

@nlinecomputers You have exactly the same setup as me then. And why? Because our family / home / office is our lab. And without that lab, we can't do our jobs. So those that don't have it, I don't understand it. However with M365 Home and Family plans now a thing, I question the logic that this isn't a benefit for those that service home users. The Windows platform is dying, M365 certainly isn't... and it's a great way to help people not lose yet another set of priceless photos.

And the people out in my neck of the woods that don't have it? They're all the pizza techs... sucking up all the local residential work, setting pricing expectations unsustainably low, and generally making a fine mess of the market.

@britechguy I don't advertise for residential work because I got tired of this very conversation. I do service residential work, but only for people that work for my business clients, or know me personally. Not that I can make a business out of that anyway, because you need THOUSANDS of clients to support a business in that space when you can fix a Windows desktop so well it doesn't come back for 24 months on the average. And I'm not ethically willing to do what some others do by charging hundreds of dollars for 20 seconds of work.

If I'm arrogant, for calling people unprofessional for being unable to fix a box to that level... so be it.

And the Action Pack, as well as all the training resources in the Microsoft Partner Portal are how I do it. I'm no magician... but I do set high standards for myself. And I get upset when people take money from this market and return substandard products or services. And all you can offer is a substandard product or service if you fail to take advantage of the learning opportunities from the vendor in question. With Microsoft, that's all in the partner program!

 

[britechguy]

Again, there are businesses that don't have the same business model or clientele that you do (and that's the generic you). That's a consideration that certain participants seem to be failing to make. Doing so is incorrect as well as insulting, and it's clear that the insult isn't accidental, but targeted. That's really antithetical to the purpose of this venue.

And this topic has effectively been hijacked, which is a real shame.

 

[britechguy]

I don't advertise for residential work because I got tired of this very conversation.

Then, with all due respect, I ask that you allow those of us who have this arena as our "bread and butter" to decide what works for us, not you, and that you cease insulting those of us who do not share your opinions because our own experiences, in our own businesses, result in different ones.

I have stated, on many occasions, that I am a break-fix, primarily residential with a few very small "mom and pop" business clients. Others have said the same of themselves. Our requirements are largely different from yours, and those of us who have been in this arena for many years actually do know best what we do, and do not, need to serve our clients.

 

[trevm999]

And @NJW, No I don't get serviced 100% by the dealer. But my vehicles are only touched by ASE certified techs, which is basically the same thing. If you aren't MS Certified, you aren't qualified to touch a Microsoft product

So you'd vote we'd all have to getthe MS Teams cert in order to touch Teams?

I have a fair number of certifications, most of the Microsoft. But my vote for an industry standard would be more like Security+. If you know base security theory, that can be you building block for working with any product. I recently disclosed a product platform security flaw with a pretty popular providor, and it should have been something that any tech before me should have found.

Also one of the official books for a MS test I took was teaching that you should check if a HD is failing using chkdsk...

 

[Sky-Knight]

@trevm999 I do have the Azure Cert, do you? The Teams cert is just more Azure for me. Security+ is a good one too.

But for my part here I'll settle for everyone having an Action Pack and simply playing with Teams, so that way I have a smaller mess to clean up. People are working from home more than ever these days, there is little to no separation between business and residential anymore.

And heaven knows there's a massive shortage of people actually honest in this industry. But it's OK, doesn't matter... we're going to get regulated into oblivion like the plumbers and electricians eventually largely because of the attitudes right here in this thread.

I'm far less about certificates, than I am about having a platform upon which to learn. This market changes too stupidly quickly for everyone to get certified on everything. Heck... The Azure test I took didn't even resemble the Azure I knew at the time because Microsoft is evolving this crap so quickly their own curriculum can't keep up. But that illustrates my I'm so married to the training materials and experimental materials in the Action Pack. With the features changing every two weeks? How else can you keep up?

And you home techs that think this doesn't concern you, Windows 10 was designed to sell M365. So if you aren't understanding of what that entails you'll do things to break that reality. And I find it's not a great thing to do business wise to get between Microsoft and whatever it's selling. Kind of the same deal with Apple, Cisco, and all the rest. We're all VARs at the end of the day on some level.

But I suppose the Windows PC in the home is a dinosaur anyway... but that's another conversation.

 

[trevm999]

@trevm999 I do have the Azure Cert, do you? The Teams cert is just more Azure for me. Security+ is a good one too.

I have Azure Administrator Associate and Azure Developer Associate, but those aren't Microsoft 365 certifications. Azure AD is the overlap, but it's not really more of the same.

 

[pcpete]

I would rather not ever be audited by MS or the tax collector. Not that I am doing anything wrong, but I don't want to go through it. Is becoming an MS partner likely going to trigger one?

 

[Sky-Knight]

I would rather not ever be audited by MS or the tax collector. Not that I am doing anything wrong, but I don't want to go through it. Is becoming an MS partner likely going to trigger one?

Not for you no... I find the audits happen only for customers that have volume licensing. I've never had a customer that operates on all OEM or Retail licensing get hit.

@trevm999 Yes, but that also means you have the learning resources AND you're using them. Which is all I really care about, I see that and the professional light turns on. When I don't see that, I get sad and grumpy. This industry is after all one of constant change and evolution, we can't ever let up... or the market leaves us behind in a blink.

 

[britechguy]

This industry is after all one of constant change and evolution, we can't ever let up... or the market leaves us behind in a blink.

The key word here, and you've said it, "evolution." I've been in this industry since receiving my bachelors in computer science in 1984. There has been a huge amount of change, but almost all of it has been an evolution of an existing technology or underlying technology theme.

There is no way that any one of us can or should be on top of all of those changes. Our focus tends to be on those that relate to the market(s) we're serving. Much of that occurs on an "as the necessity presents itself" basis, too. Always has, always will, no matter how much and how wide your continuing education pursuits happen to be. I haven't spent any time on Azure because my client base is unlikely to ever make a request related to it. Residential users don't fall into the target demographic for Azure in any meaningful sense. Why would or should those of us who serve residential as our target demographic feel any pressing need for continuing ed on it?

But I'm not saying any of the above thinking that it will register with you, but so that others can see it. You are absolutely convinced of your own correctness. The World's Foremost Authority.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I would rather not ever be audited by MS or the tax collector. Not that I am doing anything wrong, but I don't want to go through it. Is becoming an MS partner likely going to trigger one?

Unless you have a volume license Microsoft CAN'T legally audit you anymore than Victoria's Secret can audit your wife's underwear drawers. Companies can't just demand searches of your property. Only the government can do that and even then only with a warrant. Little thing called the 4th amendment.

 

[Sky-Knight]

The BSA will do their level best to convince you that's all not true... but it is true.

Microsoft will threaten you with legal action if you don't... but I've never seen them actually follow through.

 

[trevm999]

@trevm999 Yes, but that also means you have the learning resources AND you're using them. Which is all I really care about, I see that and the professional light turns on. When I don't see that, I get sad and grumpy. This industry is after all one of constant change and evolution, we can't ever let up... or the market leaves us behind in a blink.

Well, there are multiple ways to get the resources you need and multiple ways to learn. My $200 CAD/month in Azure credits are super userful, between everyone we probably have about $6000 CAD in unused credits every month. MS also gives a lot of free resources, with a free Azure tier, free labs, and free initial credits for anyone who signs up.

As for M365, I use a M365 dev subscription for testing things out, which is also free.

Using products in for production use in your own company is a great way to learn, but it's not the only way to learn, and just having the resources do not mean you are taking advantage of them. So being an MS Partner doesn't necessarily mean much.

I agree that M365 is a major shift, and anyone servicing businesses should not just assume it is business as usual. There's a lot to learn and get comfortable with.

However, I don't agree that it's that applicable to bench techs. Although I do think the residentual side there is dying out anyway.

 

[johnrobert]

The short answer is Microsoft is not capable of doing anything right licensing or otherwise the only reason they exist is because they have a total monopoly I have been a so-called MS certified system engineer for nearly 30 years back in the NT4 days lost count of M$ screw ups.