Microsoft Targeting OnLive over Windows Remote Virtualization Licensing

Over the past couple of months, we've been covering OnLive's efforts to bring remote virtualization of Windows applications to the iPad, offering access to Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, and Flash-enabled web browsing through Windows 7. OnLive may, however, be running into some difficulties with Microsoft over its offerings, with ZDNet pointing to a Microsoft blog post discussing licensing arrangements for remote desktop streaming and its belief that OnLive is not meeting these requirements.

onlive desktop
Companies are permitted to offer some "desktop-like functionality" to users via remote hosting, but Windows 7 itself and Office provided through a hosted Windows 7 installation are specifically excluded. An alternative method allowing for full remote hosting would require that the end user hold a license with Microsoft for the software and that the remote hardware used to host the Windows installation be dedicated to that specific customer. OnLive's services certainly do not seem to meet either of these paths to compliance, and Microsoft notes that it is "committed to seeing this issue is resolved."

Some inquiries about these scenarios have been raised as a result of recent media coverage related to OnLive’s Desktop and Desktop Plus services. Additionally, the analyst firm Gartner raised questions regarding the compliance of these services last week. We are actively engaged with OnLive with the hope of bringing them into a properly licensed scenario, and we are committed to seeing this issue is resolved.

OnLive has apparently yet to issue any public statements on the situation.

Tag: OnLive

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...

Top Rated Comments

jontech Avatar
171 months ago
I learned early in my IT career, the only way to pass a Microsoft Certification exam was to choose the option that said "Buy more licenses"
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bilboa Avatar
171 months ago
I love microsoft, but I swear they are too stingy with their license agreements. OnLive is a great company, ive been gaming with them for years, and the virutal windows is a great new product.

I don't know of ANY commercial software vendor who would allow a product sold with an end-user license to be provided to an arbitrary number of other users like this without any profit going back to the vendor. From a financial point of view that would be no different than buying a single copy of Windows 7 and then making the ISO available for download on your website for a fee, since you're now providing it to other users without MS seeing any of the profit. Any commercial software vendor would object to that. In this case, judging by their blog post, MS isn't trying to shut down OnLive, they just want them to buy the appropriate licenses that MS sells specifically for companies who want to provide a service like OnLive.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robeddie Avatar
171 months ago
Microsoft trying to abuse their monopoly again for more money, not a surprise

But wheres the UK launch :(

Bitchplease. If this was Apple instead of Microsoft they'd be suing onlive's ass off.

And you'd be cheering them on.

Apple has become the king of giant corporation suing machines.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
reden Avatar
171 months ago
I love microsoft, but I swear they are too stingy with their license agreements.
So, I take it you'd be alright selling 1 license to a corporation, and them just installing it on every computer in the building. Good business model man.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PabloCreep Avatar
171 months ago
I didn't see that one coming at all :rolleyes:
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nikhsub1 Avatar
171 months ago
I love microsoft, but I swear they are too stingy with their license agreements. OnLive is a great company, ive been gaming with them for years, and the virutal windows is a great new product.
RDP and office have VERY strict licensing rules, I knew this was going to happen. MS isn't being stingy, it is THEIR software that OnLive is profiting from.
I don't own an iPad yet, but the last thing I would want to use it for is to virtually run Windows software on it.
The iPad is amazing at running RDP - If you need to run windows only software (yeah, sounds absurd right?) like people in the medical field, the iPad can be your vehicle to run that software even though it is windows based. I gather you don't get out much into the real world of computing by your comment.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)