Will MSDN product keys still work after the subscription is expired?

licensing bizspark
sgtfrankieboy picture sgtfrankieboy · Feb 27, 2014 · Viewed 23.3k times · Source

Will the product keys received through the BizSpark program still work after the MSDN subscription expires?

I'm currently using Windows 8 and Visual Studio 2013 which I got through BizSpark. I was wondering what happens when the subscription ends. Will all my installed products expire or can I still use the claimed keys after the subscription ends?

Answer

david.pfx picture david.pfx · Feb 28, 2014

A quick answer before this gets closed...my recent experience with MSDN is that

  • keys that do not require activation continue to work indefinitely
  • products that have been activated continue to work indefinitely
  • keys that require activation are historically quite variable in behaviour, but now mostly will no longer activate after your subscription has expired.
  • you cannot claim new keys once your subscription expires.

MSDN is an amazing resource and very reasonably priced. Best thing is to regard it as a lifetime subscription. Having said that, we usually make sure we claim a few extra keys before we roll over each subscription. Some work, some don't.

Microsoft has been unhelpful in providing information about this, which I find quite understandable.

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