In a thinly-veiled attempt to slow iPad adoption among business customers, Microsoft (News - Alert) has added an extra licensing fee for enterprise users who want to access virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) using non-Windows tablets.

The none-too-subtle anti-iPad ideology is being incorporated into Microsoft's Companion Device License (CDL), a new addition to its existing Software Assurance (SA) volume licensing agreement that enables enterprise users to remotely access corporate applications from personally-owned devices. The CDL software will be launched alongside Microsoft's Windows 8 mobile OS later this year, and can be used with up to four personal devices, according to CRN.

Providing access to virtual desktop infrastructure is a nice add-on to Microsoft's SA agreement, but it comes with one very interesting stipulation: if you own a non-Windows tablet, be prepared to pony up for your CDL. Or, in a more Microsoft-friendly way of putting it, the CDL is free for owners of Windows RT tablets, scheduled to hit the market later this year.

"When used as a companion of a Windows Software Assurance licensed PC, Windows RT will automatically receive extended VDA rights," Erwin Visser, senior director in the Windows Commercial Group, noted in a blog post. "These rights will provide access to a full virtualized desktop infrastructure image running in the datacenter which will make Windows RT a great complementary tablet option for business customers."

The announcement, lumped in with a series of updates to the SA agreement, has been met with resistance from several Microsoft partners who expect to feel equal backlash from their customers. Most enterprises are seeing the CDL stipulation as more of a penalty for deploying iPads rather than a bonus for owning yet-to-be-released first-generation Windows RTs.

"There is going to be a very large uproar from corporate customers," Bob Venero, CEO of Future Tech (News - Alert), a Holbrook, N.Y.-based solution provider, told CRN. "You have companies out there that already have invested millions in iPads and other tablets, and now they’re going to have to pay more to access virtual Windows desktops."

Compounding the issue is the fact that Microsoft tablets have yet to hit the market. So a company will be forced to wait on Microsoft if it is interested in deploying tablets to its workers while receiving the free CDL.

In fairness, Microsoft has yet to announce the price of the CDL for non-Windows tablets. It will be interesting to see the reaction if the fee substantially increases the price of the SA license.