MSDN downloads

[crawfish]

I'm trying to understand Microsoft's latest convoluted scheme. I have MSDN, and Windows 8 has been available to download for a couple of months. The "Windows 8 Pro VL" is not available to me. Windows 8 Enterprise is. My understanding is that Pro is necessary to download Media Center, but you first gotta purchase Pro Pack, available down for the temporary killer deal download price of $70 until Jan 31, 2013. Alternatively, I could just forget about MSDN and buy Pro outright like all the other suckers, because the upgrade is available for the temporary killer deal download price of $40 until Jan 31, 2013. (Does the upgrade only upgrade an existing installation or require physical media from an older Windows as ISTR used to be the case? Answer: Of course it does! Very inconvenient.) Now, once you got Pro, you can get a key for Media Center for free until Jan 31, 2013 (after which it'll cost), but you gotta activate it by Jan 31, 2013, after which the keys turn into pumpkins. (Can you use an activated key for a reinstall after that date? Didn't find that information.) And while (url=http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ ... ition.aspx)Windows 8 Enterprise includes all the features of Pro*, the [*] footnote excludes Pro Pack and I guess Media Center, too. (I broke the 3 URL rule again so had to cripple my URL. Sorry, but them's the stricly enforced rules.) So users at my MSDN level have to pay $70 to get the Pro Pack or $40 to get a crummy upgrade version, or they don't get Pro, and they can't get Media Center.

Fizbin!

Zune!

[holidayboy]

Sorry, off topic:

The three url rule is one of our spam measures, we can maybe look to alter that.

[crawfish]

Sorry, off topic:

The three url rule is one of our spam measures, we can maybe look to alter that.

I wish you would; this is the second time I've been busted by it and had to edit a post. (OTOH, it is making me feel a bit like an outlaw, which isn't all bad. )

[Beerman]

Not sure about MSDN but in TechNet, the key you get for W8 is good for Pro or Enterprise or Basic.

[crawfish]

Not sure about MSDN but in TechNet, the key you get for W8 is good for Pro or Enterprise or Basic.

Mea culpa, I stupidly forgot MSDN issued me separate keys for Basic and Pro back in August. I managed to forget this after looking at just the downloads and the complicated, time-limited options for regular purchasers. What about the free Media Center keys? Once activated by Jan 31, 2013, surely they remain good forever, in particular, for reinstalls after that date? I would think so, but Microsoft has a FAQ to confuse the matter:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... ture-packs
How long is the product key for Windows 8 Media Center pack valid?
You must use your product key by January 31, 2013.