Microsoft TechNet to be discontinued

dalekphalm · July 1, 2013

So as of August 31st, 2013, the sale of new/renewed TechNet subscriptions will be discontinued.

Their stated reasoning is that the dynamic changing of technology has lead to most IT professionals using "evaluation" software (E.g. fully featured time limited 30-180 day trials) to evaluate and test deployment.

What does this mean for IT professionals in the future?

Well, for me personally, as a relatively inexperienced IT professional, I think this is EXTREMELY disappointing. I am a current TechNet subscriber, and the ability to test and deploy pretty much any Microsoft software is immensely helpful. I'm able to learn and test various software, and in various situations where the "evaluation" periods would be insufficient. For example, testing how a new server OS would interact with an old desktop OS, or testing more long term.

The Microsoft alternatives as stated by the FAQ include:

1) TechNet Evaluation Center: Free evaluation software with no feature limits, available for 30-180 days. Includes rich evaluation resources and TechNet Virtual Labs, which enable you to evaluate software without the need to install bits locally.

2) Microsoft Virtual Academy: Free online learning site, with over 200 expert-led technical training courses across more than 15 Microsoft technologies with more added weekly.

3) TechNet Forums: Free online forums where IT professionals can ask technical questions and receive rapid responses from members of the community.

4) MSDN Subscriptions

I checked the MSDN subscription levels and prices, and for a "comparable" level to TechNet Standard would be over $1000 USD. The basic $699 sub only includes OS software, but doesn't include Office, or anything else. The one major benefit MSDN had over TechNet was access to Visual Studio, which while helpful for developers, isn't necessarily that useful to more general IT professionals (Plus you can get free access to Visual Studio Express).

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

I personally wouldn't be able to afford even the "basic" $699 MSDN subscription.

JaeDee884 · July 2, 2013

I'm thinking I'm going to be claiming MSDN as a large tax deduction next financial year.
But basically this is just MS going, hey we realise people are actually using our services, so lets make them use the more expensive version!

stevv · July 9, 2013

I wonder how many people even know this even existed. Linus just mentioned he uses it too... though they should just get sponsorship in the future (seriously, he does so many use cases for windows products without knowing it)

Well, for me personally, as a relatively inexperienced IT professional, I think this is EXTREMELY disappointing. I am a current TechNet subscriber, and the ability to test and deploy pretty much any Microsoft software is immensely helpful. I'm able to learn and test various software, and in various situations where the "evaluation" periods would be insufficient. For example, testing how a new server OS would interact with an old desktop OS, or testing more long term.

I checked the MSDN subscription levels and prices, and for a "comparable" level to TechNet Standard would be over $1000 USD. The basic $699 sub only includes OS software, but doesn't include Office, or anything else. The one major benefit MSDN had over TechNet was access to Visual Studio, which while helpful for developers, isn't necessarily that useful to more general IT professionals (Plus you can get free access to Visual Studio Express).

I've used it since 2008 (and would have even sooner if I had known). TechNet plus the availability of virtual machines was a big boon to productivity. I actually cancelled it three years ago when I received free MSDN access from MS's BizSpark program. I'm wondering if many others have done the same. I plan to grab the plan again, even if it's for one last year. The alternative Time limited evaluations are not very useful if one wants to do continuous function and compatibility testing before deployment. e.g. office 365 + hybrid exchange, windows update issues, etc.

Looks like the "comparable" is the $6119 + $2569 renewal... what's the deal with those numbers! They just threw "69" in there. :rolleyes:

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