The end of technet.

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lxsw20

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#123279 2-Jul-2013 09:00

http://technet.microsoft.com/subscriptions/ms772427

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-to-shut-down-technet-subscription-service-7000017541/

Sucky.

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Amanzi
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#848069 2-Jul-2013 09:07

Wow, that's a real kick in the balls for the IT Pros that implement/support/evangelise Microsoft's products.

freitasm

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#848077 2-Jul-2013 09:17

And here on Geekzone:

As IT trends and business dynamics have evolved, so has Microsoft’s set of offerings for IT professionals who are looking to learn, evaluate and deploy Microsoft technologies and services. In recent years, we have seen a usage shift from paid to free evaluation experiences and resources. As a result, Microsoft has decided to retire the TechNet Subscriptions service and will discontinue sales on August 31, 201

They say basically that 180 days evaluation for OS and other platforms are already openly available, so TechNet is moving to be a knowledge resource rather than a software repository. The alternative is MSDN, which is a bit more expensive.

langers1972

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#848094 2-Jul-2013 09:25

amanzi: Wow, that's a real kick in the balls for the IT Pros that implement/support/evangelise Microsoft's products.

Are there any of them left?

graemeh

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#848095 2-Jul-2013 09:29

I wonder when they will tell their customers?

The last Technet email I received was one promoting Teched.

amanzi

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#848096 2-Jul-2013 09:29

Not all trials are 180 days... "Free evaluation software with no feature limits, available for 30-180 days". Even so, I have a number of VMs with various operating systems that I keep for testing, having to worry about trials expiring is a pain. And every time I've had to download a trial from Microsoft I have to fill in a registration form, and then end up getting marketing emails asking how the trial is going.

Maybe now that Microsoft is "all in" with the cloud, they don't need to show IT pros the same amount of love?

Kyanar

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#848116 2-Jul-2013 10:04

freitasm: They say basically that 180 days evaluation for OS and other platforms are already openly available, so TechNet is moving to be a knowledge resource rather than a software repository. The alternative is MSDN, which is a bit more expensive.

If by "a bit more expensive" you mean "three times as expensive", sure. But bear in mind that using an MSDN subscription for evaluation violates the license agreement unless you're a MAPS subscriber as well.

This decision makes my head hurt.

freitasm

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#848120 2-Jul-2013 10:10

Correct. MSDN is a resource for developers and is for not for evaluation or production. TechNet was not for production neither but it seems it happened.

Also note MSDN and TechNet licenses are for individuals, not companies.

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billgates

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#848134 2-Jul-2013 10:31

Microsoft Action Pack is another alternative though not as easy to signup to.

https://partner.microsoft.com/nz/40016455

Do whatever you want to do man.

raytaylor

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#848968 3-Jul-2013 22:08

langers1972:
amanzi: Wow, that's a real kick in the balls for the IT Pros that implement/support/evangelise Microsoft's products.

Are there any of them left?

Hello. My name is Ray.

Ray Taylor

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raytaylor

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#848973 3-Jul-2013 22:12

billgates: Microsoft Action Pack is another alternative though not as easy to signup to.

https://partner.microsoft.com/nz/40016455

Before i left my day job, thats what we used.
$700 a year for all the latest software - almost everything microsoft put out including all the random niche stuff was a pretty good deal. I think if i remember right, the windows xp etc came with 10 licenses. So the action pack basically ran the office computers, servers, exchange etc and we learned the new stuff as soon as they sent out the disc, and we were ready to sell the product a few days later.

Recieving those yellow parcels was awesome. Could it be a new office, or perhaps sharepoint, or maybe its just a dumb service pack update. Always a good day to see one of those in my pigeon hole.

Ray Taylor

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amanzi

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#848976 3-Jul-2013 22:17

By the way, I just tried download a Windows 8 trial through the Technet Evaluation service, and as I suspected you need to step through several pages of surveys and forms just to get to the download. And this is part of the reward of wanting the download: "By downloading the Windows 8 trial software, you will receive 3 emails from Microsoft during the 90-day evaluation period to enhance your evaluation experience." Yeah, I'm sure those 3 emails will "enhance" the experience...

amanzi

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#848978 3-Jul-2013 22:19

billgates: Microsoft Action Pack is another alternative though not as easy to signup to.

The Action Pack is great, but it's not really a replacement for the TechNet subscription.

CYaBro

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#848992 3-Jul-2013 22:47

Didn't you get a technet subscription included with the Action Pack?

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Kyanar

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#849232 4-Jul-2013 13:07

CYaBro: Didn't you get a technet subscription included with the Action Pack?

You did. They cover off what they're doing if you read the linked article in the original post. Basically, after the cutoff date Technet will no longer be a benefit of the MAPS program.

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#849263 4-Jul-2013 13:58

Technet NZ prices were pretty damn jacked up anyway, could import from amazon $300+ cheaper and ~$80 cheaper for renewals. Then you had crap like they didn't even have a working creditcard payment gateway for most of one year for NZ customers and it had to be done over the phone.

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