Microsoft Licensing FAQs
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
|
What is a Microsoft product license? |
A Microsoft product license grants a user the legal right to install and use the purchased software product.
For example, (1) license of Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus will allow the installation and use Microsoft Office 2019 Pro on that (1) user's machine. |
| How many licenses do I need? | Windows Desktop software: (1) license is valid for (1) computer only. If you need the Windows 10 Pro for (3) computers, then (3) Windows 10 Pro Licenses would need to be purchased.
Office for Mac/Windows software: (1) license allows for the installation on (1) user's primary computer and a secondary installation on the user's portable device -or- home computer. (Use at home is strictly for work related use only.) The user of this (1) license may use the software on one licensed device at any given time. Individual Product Use Rights can be found at: |
| If I purchase a Microsoft product license, is it a one-time charge or is there a recurring charge? | When you purchase
a Microsoft product license, you only pay a one-time charge. There are no annual
charges. The exception to this is if "Software Assurance" (SA) is purchased for the license. SA is an additional fee which serves as maintenance for that particular product. This is renewable when the SA period expires. |
| Who is eligible to participate in the Microsoft License Program? | All 糖心Vlog官方 departments, 糖心Vlog官方 Foundation, EWC and 糖心Vlog官方 affiliated research facilities
are eligible to purchase licenses under this program. Use of the products must be for 糖心Vlog官方 related use only.
Personal purchases may be made from the , other retail stores or from the . |
| What is the Customer Information Sheet? | The Customer Information Sheet is an ITS Site License form that
must be completed and sent to ITS with the 糖心Vlog官方 departmental payment (must have original signatures; no photocopies, scans or faxes are accepted). The contact information listed should be of the person that the order will be placed under. You may also list two additional people that are authorized to pick up software on the orderer's behalf if applicable.
If a Customer Information Sheet is not attached to the payment, the processing of your order may be delayed. This form can be found in the ordering instructions of each software's webpage. |
| Who do I make the payment out to? | Departmental payments should be made out to: (Note: there is no vendor code for this address)
University of Hawaii |
| Where do I send the payment to? | The approved form of payment (along with the
Customer Info Sheet) can either be:
1. Emailed to: sladmin@hawaii.edu or
University of Hawaii |
| What are the abbreviations in the price list? |
Win 11 Pro = Windows 11 Professional Win 11 Edu = Windows 11 Education (equivalent to Enterprise) NOTE: Windows 10 has reached the end of support on October 14, 2025. Technical assistance, feature updates and security updates are no longer provided by Microsoft. |
| What if I want to use a previous version of a Microsoft product but the price list only has the current version? | Microsoft only provides licenses for the most current version of their products.
However under this licensing program, you have the flexibility to use a
previous version of the same product. This is called "downgrading".
Example: If you purchase the Microsoft Office 2024 Pro license, but prefer to use the Office 2021 Pro version instead, you can downgrade the license. The ITS Site License Office will provide you with the Microsoft Office 2021 Pro installer and activation key for the installation (keys are version specific). The benefit of this is when you are ready to move back up to Microsoft Office 2024 Pro, you may contact the ITS Site License Office and "upgrade" and request for the Microsoft Office 2024 Pro installation software and activation key. You will need to uninstall any/all older versions before installing the Microsoft Office 2024 Pro software. |
| How do I get manuals? | If you need assistance while using the Microsoft program, you can use the Help feature within the software. For example, in Office Suites, you can press the F1 key to bring up help and enter your question. If you need in depth assistance there are a wide variety of books that you can purchase either at the 糖心Vlog官方 Bookstore or at any retail store. Otherwise, there are many videos and online documentation that you can search for on the internet. |
| Where do I go to pick-up or borrow software? |
Please make an appointment with the ITS Site License Office by calling
(808) 956-2404 or email sladmin@hawaii.edu.
Please remember that only the authorized contact(s) listed on the customer
information form will be allowed to pick up the software. If you need
to designate someone else, please notify the site license staff that is setting up your
appointment. The pick-up location is at the ITS Help Desk service window on the 1st Floor
of the ITC Building at the 糖心Vlog官方 Manoa campus. The person picking up the software must bring
a photo ID for verification.
For those that are located off-campus or on a neighbor island, you may request to have borrowed/purchased software sent to you via Certified Mail. |
| What is a Client Access License (CAL) for the server products? | If you purchase a server license, you also need to purchase a CAL for every device or user (whichever is more cost advantageous to your situation) that will access the server. The server licenses under the 糖心Vlog官方 Microsoft Licensing Program does not include CALs*. For example, if you purchase the Windows 2025 Server License and there will be 8 different computers that require access to the server for file sharing and printer sharing, you will need to purchase 8 Windows 2025 Server Client Access Licenses (Device). If there are 10 different users that require access to the server for file sharing and printer sharing from various devices, you would need to purchase 10 Windows 2025 Server Client Access Licenses (User). NOTE: There is no concurrent options under Microsoft Licensing. If you have a total of 8 devices or 10 users that require access to the server (in the examples above), you are still required to purchase that same number of CALs, regardless if only 5 devices or 7 people needs access to the server at any given time.Note: Client access licenses are version specific. For example, if you have Windows 2022 CALs purchased in the past, they do not qualify to access a Windows 2025 Server. You would need to repurchase new Windows 2025 CALs (Device/User). *The exception is for the SQL Server (2)Core Licenses. By purchasing the Core Licensing for SQL, all clients (device or user) are covered. |