Acquiring software licenses through Microsoft Volume Licensing is different than acquiring retail boxed software licenses. A retail software license is usually sold in a box and contains media (floppy disk, CD-ROM, or DVD format), a user’s guide, access to product support, and Microsoft Software License Terms (formerly known as the End User License Agreement or EULA). The Software License Terms dictate how you can and cannot use the software.

Software acquired through Microsoft Volume Licensing is a software license only that gives you the right to run a Microsoft software product. You can save above retail boxed software prices when you participate in a Microsoft Volume Licensing program. By acquiring software licenses through Volume Licensing, you pay for only the software license and not for additional materials. With some Microsoft Volume Licensing agreements, you can also purchase Microsoft Software Assurance for Volume Licensing. This single, cost-effective program can help boost organizational productivity with support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (24×7); deployment planning services; user and technical training; and the latest Microsoft software releases and unique technologies.

When you acquire software through a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement, you can choose to acquire media (or supplemental media), documentation, and product support separately by download or physical media as needed.