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Microsoft To Shut Down TechNet Subscription Service
otaku244 writes "Since 1998, Microsoft TechNet has been a mainstay for all system developers attached to the Microsoft platform, given the ease of access to almost every product the company has produced. Unfortunately, the days of a cheap, unlimited Microsoft development stack are coming to an end."
Some of us like to create test labs that will outlast the 30-180 day expiration date associated with MS evaluation periods (such as with SQL Server or BizTalk). An MSDN susbscription is more expensive than TechNet by the order of several magnitude.
I'm not sure what's going on with MS these days. They release a monstrosity of a desktop OS (Win8), a sub-par hermaphrodite laptop/tablet to go with it (Surface), and they are now giving their loyal developers the finger.
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
MSDN subscriptions are at least 3x the cost of a TechNet subscription. The point of the TechNet was that you were not a developer, you were an integration tester.
It's patently obvious you have NEVER had a TechNet subscription -- especially if you think all there is to it is Office and a light version of VS.
This is a serious drag, especially for contractors/consultants, small shops, and MS developers of all kinds
'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
I'm not sure what's going on with MS these days. They release a monstrosity of a desktop OS (Win8), a sub-par hermaphrodite laptop/tablet to go with it (Surface), and they are now giving their loyal developers the finger.
The cynic in me thinks that Microsoft knows its desktop monopoly is becoming steadily less lucrative, so they want to squeeze out every last penny while they can. We all know that for years, many users got Technet subscriptions and ignored the "for testing only" proviso, instead using them as cheap installs for self, friends, and family. When Microsoft cared about desktop market share, this didn't bother them much, since they'd rather people use their software (even at low cost) instead of going to a competitor. Now, however, they have delusions of being a "device and service company" and want to cut the desktop loose. It's absurd, of course (the desktop is the only area that MS has any kind of real advantage over its competitors) but it is what Steve Ballmer thinks.
TechNet was never for developers. It was for sys admins/IT professionals.
... for as long as I can remember!
Here in New Zealand, MSDN Ultimate is $26,369.00.
Better to fly first-class to the U.S. and pick one up for half the price. Understandably we're a little sour about it!
This has got be the third dumbest idea Microsoft has had in the last decade
Hey, as someone who competes against proprietary solutions (including Microsoft) with Free Software solutions, I wholeheartedly endorse this change!
What I frequently see is businesses that hire a developer to code a solution, and that developer has Technet, so he chooses whatever technology he thinks is best on there, and then when the customer gets ready to deploy it, they find a chain of Microsoft dependencies that all need licensing and CAL's, and often get roped into a software maintenance agreement for 5+digits over their initial cost estimate. Often it gets big enough to require new hardware and a virtualization solution too.
I get "second-opinion" work from them, but it's often too late to do anything else. I've heard of some (that I don't work with) who 'just get Technet' too.
If there's a silver lining, it's that I often get first-crack at the next project. But either way, this is a great decision on Microsoft's part as far as I'm concerned!
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
The change in Technet doesn't affect me personally (as I'm a developer), but I'm at a life change right now and I need to change and update my programming skills. The question is, what should I be looking to do with my life?
When Microsoft pulls stunts like this, I take notice and I know I'm not the only one. Why would I want to invest my time and money into a sinking ship? I have 20 to 25 more years of development before I retire and right now I'm a .NET developer. C# is a pretty good language, but Microsoft is screwing up so much else, I don't really see how businesses are going to continue to support Microsoft. When those businesses drop Microsoft, it's going to go fast and my ability to get and keep a good paying job will go with it.
Microsoft, are you listening? Technet doesn't affect me directly, but I see this. You know that whole thing with Windows 8.0 and 8.1 and the no-start menu? That affected me and I started changing he advice I gave to people. Then there are the things that do affect me greatly. I called you a few months ago when I was investigating possibilities for my future and you gave me shitty advice because your own people couldn't figure out your own licensing. A word of warning: You have really big problems. You think you hide your issues from us? Tell us things are ok? Lie to us? Tell us that "Metro" which can only hog the whole screen is really a good thing? Think again. We can see your failures and piece together what is really going on behind your closed doors. We can smell how sick your company is and its really repugnant. People like me determine in the workforce which languages and operating systems to use. We play around with this stuff at work and at home. You really think you're going to squeeze us with UEFI and Technet? Your company is dying and we the tech people know it and we're going to start whispering that to our bosses and quietly switching away from you. You are not safe. The momentum is shifting and when it really gets going in the other direction you won't be able to stop it. You still have time to fix this, but you're being brain-dead stupid. Start listening to us because we sure as hell are listening and watching you.
Actually *several* orders of magnitude would make it at least $199,000 or $299,000.
This is slashdot, we use base 2, not base 10.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
The NSA-provided SELinux patches are optional, were added in version 2.6 of the kernel and yes, they have been thoroughly vetted by a number of different organisations.
There's no such thing as zero possibility, so no, not absolutely sure. But it's close.
On the other hand, it's proven that Microsoft is a collaborator. My choice is clear.
This is a serious drag, especially for contractors/consultants, small shops, and MS developers of all kinds
This. I set up an entire lab where I used to work using TechNet, mirroring the production environment so we could test MS Updates and other software updates before we let them loose on the corporate desktops. We even used it to test the changes the developers would port from their dev systems before we put them on the production systems.
When I left that company, I used my own TechNet subscription to test deployments before I would go to a client site. I kept up on my skills and learned new ones using the subscription, even doing an entire MS Dynamics deployment on my network at home before installing it for a client. My TecnNet subscription added value to my work. I will be looking for some sort of replacement, because I know I the value it gave me. I just think Microsoft doesn't realize the value of letting a consultant learn their products in depth at their own pace.
How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?
i guess MS no longer needs sys admins and IT professionals to support their products.
They want Enterprises to move to Azure and the Microsoft cloud.
On-Premise deployments of software are in the process of being phased out.
Microsoft has planned obsolescence for Windows IT professionals