In the last two years Microsoft worked to release more virtualization-friendly license agreements.
The process has been slow but the results are remarkable: unlimited virtual servers paying one Windows 2008 Datacenter Edition, unlimited virtual databases paying one SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, up to unlimited virtual desktops paying a Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop license.

Now the company is taking further steps as its new hypervisor Hyper-V is out.

As anticipated last week, Microsoft has just announced that its licensing policy will change on September 1, 2008 to simplify the movement of virtual machines between physical hosts:

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Microsoft is updating its software licensing terms for 41 server applications, including Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise edition, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Standard and Enterprise editions, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Enterprise and Professional editions, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft System Center products. With the new terms, the company is waiving its previous 90-day reassignment rule, allowing customers to reassign licenses from one server to another within a server farm as frequently as needed…