Software Licensing and Availability
General Overview
The Department of Botany uses many software packages that are site-licensed or free through the University. Others may require you to purchase an individual license.
Some of these packages are only available on CD or DVD. Others can be installed from network shares.
Most Microsoft packages (though not all), use what is called KMS to police the University's volume license agreement with Microsoft. What you need to know about KMS is that you must run the software either on the University network (excluding ResNet or any of the DoIT-provided wireless networks) or via WiscVPN at least once every six months. Otherwise, the software will go into so-called notification mode where it will annoy you with pop-ups regarding the lack of activation. If you want to read more about KMS, there a comprehensive page in the Knowledge Base that describes the nitty gritty details.