Why is purchasing Microsoft licences such a daunting task? [closed]
- by John Nevermore
I've spent 2 frustrating days jumping through hoops and browsing through different local e-shops for VS (Visual Studio) 2010 Pro. And WHS (Windows Home Server) FPP 2011 licenses. I found jack .. - or to be more precise, the closest I found in my country was WHS OEM 2011 licenses after multiple emails sent to individuals found on Microsoft partners page.
Question being, why is it so difficult to get your hands on Microsoft licenses as an individual? Sure, you can get the latest end user operating systems from most shops, but when it comes to development tools or server software you are left dry. And companies that do sell licenses most of the time don't even put up pricing or a self service environment for buying the licenses, you need to have an hawk's eye for that shiny little Microsoft partner logo and spam through bunch of emails not knowing, if you can count on them to get the license or not.
Sure, i could whip out my credit card and buy the VS 2010 license on the online Microsoft Shop. Well whippideegoddamndoo, they sell that, but they don't sell WHS 11 licenses. Why does a company make it so hard to buy their products? Let's not even talk about the licensing itself being a pain.
