[There's a reason that Yoda is the unofficial mascot of SBS. Size indeed matters not.] EBS 2008 downgrade rights - THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"
Sun, Oct 19 2008 22:19 bradley

EBS 2008 downgrade rights

For all of the concern about line of business apps and SBS 2008... for anyone wondering about the downgrade rights for EBS ....  they have a near similar story with one exception.. there's no prior product for them to downgrade to so you need to make sure your network can meet the requirements -- http://www.microsoft.com/ebs/en/us/downgrade-rights.aspx

Downgrade rights, in general, mean that you can use an earlier version of the software acquired. Windows Essential Business Server 2008 is the first version, so there are no applicable downgrade rights.

Frequently Asked Questions:

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Q.  Windows Essential Business Server 2008 comes with several copies of Windows Server 2008 technologies. Can I exercise my downgrade rights and run earlier versions of Windows Server?

A.  

No. Components of the Windows Essential Business Server solution cannot be separated. Downgrade rights apply to the solution—that is, if EBS 2008 had an earlier version, the components that make up that version could be downgraded. However, since EBS 2008 is the first version, there are no applicable downgrade rights.

Q.  Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Premium Edition comes with a SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition. Can I exercise my downgrade rights and run earlier versions of SQL Server to run legacy applications?

A.  

No. Components of the Windows Essential Business Server solution cannot be separated. However Microsoft recognizes that Line of Business applications may experience compatibility issues moving from one version to the next, so for approximately one year from Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Release to Manufacturing (RTM) date, we will ship SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (both 32- and 64-bit platforms) in addition to the SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition for the customer’s use in order to address these potential issues.

Note that once we stop shipping both versions of SQL Server, customers may not downgrade components of the Windows Essential Business Server solution and therefore are restricted from downgrading just the SQL Server component.

 

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# re: EBS 2008 downgrade rights

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 4:33 PM by Matthew Frahm

Looks like current Microsoft customers with SA on their regular Server products and CALs are SOL for moving to EBS.  SBS customers, on the other hand, seem to benefit from an upgrade path as far as pricing goes.