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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?

jmac
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sgtfrankieboy
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is **NOT** a concrete, answerable **programming** question ... – marc_s Feb 27 '14 at 11:42
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    You should ask Microsoft and their licensing folks - this is off-topic here – marc_s Feb 27 '14 at 11:43
  • http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/faqs.aspx – CAD bloke Jul 24 '14 at 04:02
  • My friend had BizSpark, and his Visual Studio 2013 Ultimate Edition expired once his license expired. I think this is new to 2013 though, now that it requires more extensive logging in. – James Eby Oct 07 '14 at 14:48

1 Answers1

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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.

david.pfx
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