Microsoft TechNet

Microsoft TechNet was a Microsoft web portal and web service for IT professionals. It included a library containing documentation and technical resources for Microsoft products, a learning center which provides online training, discussion forums, an evaluation center for downloading trialware, blogs for Microsoft employees and a wiki.

Microsoft TechNet
Original logo, used from 1998 to c. 2006
Type of site
Knowledge base
Successor(s)Microsoft Learn
OwnerMicrosoft
URLArchived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
Launched1998 (1998)
Current statusoffline Subscription terminated since August 31, 2013;

TechNet originally provided a software subscription service similar to Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud that allowed subscribers to download Microsoft software under a software as service license for private use. On July 1, 2013, it was announced that Microsoft is discontinuing the TechNet subscription service, with the purchase and renewal of subscriptions to be closed by August 31, 2013.[1]

TechNet also included a web-based TechNet Magazine which is discontinued since October 2013. Past issues are still available for reading.

As of January 2020, TechNet now redirects to Microsoft Docs.[2]

Websites

TechNet's primary web presence is a collection of sites for IT professionals that provide information, documentation, and discussion which are authored both by Microsoft and by the community at large. Recent emphasis on and incorporation of applications such as forums, blogs, library annotations, and social bookmarking is changing the nature of the TechNet site from a one-way information service to an open dialog between Microsoft and the IT professional community.[3] The main website, and most of its constituent applications below are available in 12 languages, generate traffic from 11.5 million per month and host approx. 11 million documents.[4]

Library

Similar to the MSDN Library which contains technical information for software developers, the TechNet Library is a source of technical information for IT professionals and advanced users. The technical content is freely available on the web and on CDs and DVDs. The discs are published monthly and contain the complete Microsoft Knowledge Base, service packs, security updates, resource kits, technical training, operations and deployment guides, white papers, and case studies.

In January 2014, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Security Bulletins and Advisories would be merged into the TechNet Library.[5]

In 2016, Microsoft introduced the new technical documentation platform, Microsoft Docs, intended as a replacement of TechNet and MSDN libraries. [6] For the next two years Microsoft was migrating their materials into Microsoft Docs. Now most of the TechNet Library pages redirect to the corresponding Microsoft Docs pages. [7]

Forums

TechNet Forums are the web-based forums used by the community to discuss a wide variety of IT professional topics. TechNet Forums were migrated to an all-new platform during 2008 that provided new features designed to improve efficiency such as inline preview of threads, AJAX filtering, and a slide-up post editor.

Blogs
See also: Microsoft Developer Network § Blogs

TechNet had their own blogging platform, which hosts the blogs of Microsoft employees. In May 2020, the MSDN and TechNet blogs were closed and the content was archived at Microsoft Docs.[8]

Wiki

The TechNet Wiki is a technical resource inspired by Wikipedia. Wiki is a community site and does not offer official documentation from Microsoft.[9] Anyone who joins the community can contribute new topics, edit and enhance existing topics, provide comments and "friend" other registered users. The goals [10] of the wiki include providing broader and more in-depth solutions content (how-to, procedural, troubleshooting, deployment), from a broad pool of first-hand experiences, with less publishing friction than traditional mechanisms.

Other

TechNet content on related topics is organized into separate sections, such as:

  • TechNet Evaluation Center
  • Microsoft Tech Companion App
  • Microsoft Script Center
  • TechNet Video

Social bookmarking

Social bookmarking on TechNet Social was first launched in 2008, built on a new web platform that has user-tagging and feeds at its core.[11] The goal of the social bookmarking application is to provide a method whereby members of the IT professional community can:

  • Contribute to a database of quality links on any topic from across the web. By filtering on one or more tags, (e.g. "Exchange" and "security") users can discover popular or recent links and subscribe to a feed of those links.
  • Find and follow experts' recommended sites. Each profile page includes a feed of the user's contributions. Users can be discovered through a drop-down menu on each bookmark.
  • Demonstrate their expertise through the links displayed in their profile.
  • Store their favorite links online.

The initial release of the application provides standard features for the genre, including a bookmarklet and import capabilities. The TechNet web site is also starting to incorporate feeds of social bookmarks from experts and the community, displayed alongside feeds from relevant bloggers.[12]

Subscriptions and downloads

TechNet also provided access to Microsoft software [13] for evaluation purposes through the "TechNet subscription" . The annual subscription provided trial-use-only software that was unlocked only so long as a subscription was maintained.[14] The Standard subscription provided access to most of their software except specific enterprise-oriented software and included one collection of Microsoft E-learning. The Professional subscription was more expensive and provided access to all their software and included two free professional support calls and two collections of Microsoft E-learning.[15]

On July 1, 2013, Microsoft announced the retirement of the TechNet Subscriptions service to focus on growing its free offerings, including evaluation resources through the TechNet Evaluation Center, expert-led learning through the Microsoft Virtual Academy, and community-moderated technical support through the TechNet Forums to better meet the needs of the growing IT professional community. The last day to purchase a TechNet Subscription was August 31, 2013. Subscribers could activate purchased subscriptions through September 30, 2013.

Microsoft announced an extended 90-days plan to help existing subscribers get used to the new situation.[14]

TechNet Magazine

Founded in 2005, TechNet Magazine is a discontinued monthly print magazine that provided IT professionals, working with Microsoft technologies, information about planning, operating, and optimizing their systems. At the time it was discontinued, TechNet Magazine had a print circulation of about 100,000 readers in the US.[16]

See also

References
  1. Bott, Ed (1 July 2013). "Microsoft to shut down TechNet subscription service". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  2. kexugit. "Welcome to docs.microsoft.com". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  3. Martin, John (27 August 2008). "Microsoft is Planning Much More Than Just Social Bookmarking". John Martin's Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 1 August 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  4. Schwartz, Jeffrey (May 29, 2008). "Microsoft Revamps MSDN and TechNet". Visual Studio Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  5. Trent, Rod (16 January 2014). "Microsoft Security Bulletins and Advisories Merging with the TechNet Library". Windows IT Pro. Penton. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  6. Jonathan Allen. MSDN/TechNet Being Replaced by Open Source Project docs.microsoft.com InfoQ News
  7. João Carrasqueira. Microsoft is moving its OneDrive technical documentation to Microsoft Docs Neowin News
  8. "Archived MSDN and TechNet Blogs". docs.microsoft.com. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  9. Price, Ed (8 April 2010). "Wiki: About TechNet Wiki". TechNet Wiki. Microsoft. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  10. Battalio, Eric (26 February 2010). "Wiki: About". Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  11. Havenstein, Heather (August 22, 2008). "Microsoft details plans for new social bookmarking tool". Computerworld.
  12. Martin, John (30 May 2008). "New Social Bookmarking Feeds in MSDN Dev Centers". John Martin's Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  13. "TechNet Downloads". Microsoft. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  14. "TechNet Subscriptions". TechNet. Microsoft. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  15. "Compare Subscriptions". TechNet. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012.
  16. Fell, Jason (28 July 2009). "1105 Media to Publish Microsoft's MSDN, TechNet Magazines". Folio. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
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