Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services Licensing

Posted by Benny Tritsch on January 2, 2006

[Overview] [License Server] [Per Device TS CAL] [Per User TS CAL] [Transition Plan]

Windows Server 2003 TS CAL Transition Plan

Operating system equivalency as it existed under Windows 2000 Server has been scaled back under Windows Server 2003. Under Windows 2000, operating system equivalency allowed clients with the same or with a higher version than the server legal access to Terminal Services without a Terminal Server Client Access License.

Because many customers acquired Windows XP licenses before Windows Server 2003 was released, Microsoft introduced a TS CAL transition plan. Customers holding licenses for Windows XP Professional at the time of Windows Server 2003 release (April 24, 2003) receive for each of their licenses one Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Client Access License. Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Mobile are not covered by the transition plan. The transition plan is valid until June 2007. You can get your free Windows Server 2003 TS CAL (Per Device or Per User license) from the Microsoft Terminal Server 2003 Licensing Transition website.

Additionally, customers who had TS CALs that were enrolled in a Platform or Enterprise Operating System Agreement (EA), or an Upgrade Advantage (UA) or a Software Assurance (SA) agreement with Microsoft, received one Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Client Access License including Software Assurance for each licensed Windows desktop. As a precondition, the Windows desktops had to be covered by these agreements at the time of Windows Server 2003 release. Windows desktop licenses purchased subsequently did not include the TS CAL.