Microsoft: No extra licenses needed for multicore chips
InfoWorld | at | by Mike
Customers that use the dual-core processors that Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are expected to begin shipping next year will not need to buy extra licenses for Microsoft software, the software maker will announce Tuesday.
Until Tuesday, Microsoft had declined to comment on how it would license software for chips with more than one core, but under a revised software licensing policy, set to be published Tuesday, Microsoft will now consider dual or multicore processors as if they are a single chip, said Cori Hartje, director of marketing and readiness with Microsoft's worldwide licensing and pricing group. "What we're trying to do here is make sure that customers can upgrade to this new technology without having to pay a premium for software costs," she said.