Microsoft has quietly revealed it’s binning a site dedicated to software licensing info and education that it currently promotes as “a complete and up-to-date resource for anyone who needs to learn about Microsoft licensing.”
Software licensing is notoriously labyrinthine, so resources like the site Microsoft will close – Get Licensing Ready – can be very handy. Today, the site offers over 50 training modules plus documentation.
But Microsoft has decided not to keep it around in its current form. Indeed, visitors to the site currently see a pop-up that explains “Microsoft will be ending support for licensing certifications through this platform and phasing out the Get Licensing Ready resource.”
The site’s “retirement” date is January 1. Users have until December 1 to complete any active modules and download certificates. If you’re a user of the site, get cracking: Redmond warns it is “unable to provide copies of certification after December 31st, 2024.”
An email alias dedicated to the site will also go away on New Year’s Day.
The good news is that the content currently available on the site will be “relocated” to microsoft.com/licensing.
A Microsoft spokesperson told The Register the software megalith “remains committed to supporting licensing knowledge and solution-building for our partners and customers” – in part with “new AI capabilities to further enhance learning and engagement.”
An example of AI as applied to licensing is the announced-in-October preview of a “Partner Center AI assistant” that “uses generative AI to deliver tailored insights and intelligent suggestions, providing quick answers to questions and optimizing day-to-day workflows.”
Microsoft’s page for the Assistant doesn’t mention licensing, but the spokesperson told us it helps with “navigating and managing Partner Center workspaces, including Account settings, Action Center, Benefits, Billing, Customers, Earnings, Incentives, Insights, Membership, Marketplace offers, Referrals, Pricing, and Help + Support.”
Which sounds fine for the channel – but not for the “anyone” served by the current site.
There’s no word on what kind of AI pixie dust Microsoft intends to spread over its licensing services, but we’re told the software giant is already at work developing them.
The Register looks forward covering a future hypothetical Copilot for Licensing hallucinating errors that lead to disputes with Microsoft’s software entitlement auditors. ®
