Microsoft E3 and Windows 10/11 E3 CSP Licenses and VDA Rights

@Jennia_Mayer: Personally I would recommend to wait until the language in the product terms is updated properly to have an official answer - evrything stated in the webinars or here on the forums is not part of the agreement and may simply disappear - and if the past and current product terms do not document any such right officially it might be an issue. The product terms are authoritative since they are referenced in the agreement.
David_Priebe: Totally agree

And, maybe more importantly, also David Priebe - technically it does not work to deploy Windows E3 obtained in CSP/under MCA on the customer's own on-premises servers. There is neither media provided, nor a key - and subscription based activation technically requires an activated Windows client OS underneath to work - which is not applicable to a VDI scenario where there is Windows Server Hyper-V or even other hosts like VMware used. Hosting partners like QMTH or CSP Hosters have access to KMS keys and media enabling such scenario in their environment.

To the 2nd part of the question of Jennie Mayer - it does matter, respectively it may matter considering the complete picture. I'm sorry to provide such complicated answer below, but this matter of Windows licensing is really one of the most complicated at Microsoft...

[Below is based on the same Windows client license terms referenced in my first post - the beginning of the article mentions the license assignment requirements and defines what is a qualifying OS. Below is still a shortened version, so make sure to review the license terms in detail for definitions]

- The Windows E3/E5 license can only be assigned to a person which is the primary user of a client device with a "qualifying operating system license" - e.g. a workstation with a valid Windows 11 pro OEM license would count. Primary user means this person is using the device for the majority of the time the device is powered on. However, when this user/person fulfills this requirement, this user may also access the virtual desktop also from other non-windows devices they use.

- If the person which should access the virtual desktop is not primary user of any client device with a qualifying OS, e.g. their main working device is a Mac, it is required to obtain the more expensive VDA license for them, Windows E3/E5 is not allowed to be assigned to this user then. Alternatively, for the purpose of accessing a virtual desktop the Microsoft 365 F3/F5/E3/E5 license terms also waived the requirement of being a primary user of a device with a qualifying OS in October '22 license terms update, so when going for M365 it does not matter what the user has as primary device.

This last change is very beneficial for Partner providing hosted virtual desktops - before even QMTH Partners would need to ask their potential customers about what primary working device type their users have to determine if they could sell M365 suite licenses or need to go for the standalone plans combining VDA E3/E5 with O365E3 for example. Now, CSP HOsters can sell M365 suites no matter how the cluient base of their customer does look like.

Jennie_Maier 

 

Unfortunately, since the information on the document that you provided in your post seems to answer your question(s), I'm unable to further assist further assist as licensing concierge. 

 

If you require expert assistance & advice on all your Windows-related issues, please post on the Windows community - Windows Help and Support | Windows Forum

 

 

If this (or someone else's) reply answers your question, please Accept as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly. Otherwise, please let me know if you need further assistance on this topic.

Regards,

Microsoft CSP Licensing Concierge