As announced in September 2021 through an email campaign, starting from January 1, 2022, Bentley began discontinuing support for MicroStation PowerDraft and upgrading interested users to the more advanced MicroStation CONNECT Edition. As a result, no new licenses of MicroStation PowerDraft are available for purchase or portfolio balancing.
No, you do not need to uninstall MicroStation PowerDraft - usage is only recorded when the program is running (see: How is usage calculated?). However, it would be advisable to uninstall MicroStation PowerDraft if the user does not own its license to avoid accidental usage/Term License. Furthermore, without valid license, MicroStation PowerDraft will expire after initial Trial period.
Not having MicroStation PowerDraft in the contract will result either with Trial error message (for SELECT accounts) or Term License (for SELECT Open Access accounts). If you still have MicroStation PowerDraft entitlements, then it can be used normally until the contract expiration day.
There are no special actions needed or requirements after switching from MicroStation PowerDraft to MicroStation. You need to download MicroStation package from the Software Downloads page (see: How to download MicroStation (Software Download Page)), install it, sign in to CONNECTION Client and just use it. MicroStation will get activated in the background the same way as any other CONNECT Edition of our programs (see: How to activate products under Subscription Entitlement Service).
Once the contract has been processed, your entitlements will become active and accessible through the Entitlement/License Management portal - there is nothing else required from your side. If you have active checkouts of MicroStation PowerDraft, they should be checked in if MicroStation PowerDraft was replaced with MicroStation (see: Bentley Licensing Tool: Checkout License Tab and License Checkouts) - see also "Can I still run PowerDraft parallel for a few days if MicroStation has not yet been installed?" above.
Yes, MicroStation PowerDraft and MicroStation are two different applications that require separate/different licenses.
If MicroStation PowerDraft was converted to MicroStation, it would be processed on the back end and then you will be entitled to use MicroStation only. The license will be obtained automatically once you sign in to CONNECTION Client. In some cases, you may need to refresh the policy in Bentley Licensing Tool on the local machine - see: Refresh Policy.
The software installed on the local machine is different for each license and needs to be downloaded and installed separately. See also "What must be done first when switching?" above.
PowerDraft to MicroStation CONNECT Edition Upgrade Initiative
PowerDraft to MicroStation CONNECT Edition Upgrade Initiative – Term Licenses