Windows redistribution licensing for virtual demos

Question

What are the license restrictions surrounding the redistribution of Windows OSes as part of virtual demos?

I am looking to make available demo versions of my software as already installed and configured on a VHD (or whatever the VMWare equivalent is). I was told that this is not possible because MS does not allow the Windows OS to be redistributed that way (even trial/demo versions). Can anyone point me to a definitive source (MS license terms maybe?) that specifies what the requirements are? Or at least an official "this is not possible"?

MS seems to be distributing their virtual training labs and product demos more and more as a VHD download. I was hoping to be able to do the same.

Answer 1

Sure, it's very likely that you can distribute Windows as part of your demo, but you're going to have to buy a license for every copy. I'm assuming you wanted to avoid that.

Your sources are correct; this isn't possible. Microsoft distributes windows on VHD's for training and demonstration purposes because it can. I'm not aware of any organization being given permission to distribute Windows as you describe. You are not likely to find an official "this is not possible", simply because licenses define what you can do, not (in general) what you can't. Most of the prohibitions in a license agreement are stipulations that are part of the granting of some other right. You won't find a comprehensive list of what's disallowed, simply because that's obviously impossible.

The only way to get an official response is to ask your Microsoft representative, assuming that you have one (if your organization has an EA, for example, the EA representative would be the person to talk to).