Ed Bott breaks down the various TechNet alternatives. TechNet subscriptions are aimed at IT professionals who need a low-cost way to get hands-on experience with Microsoft software. The program offers downloads of a staggering amount of Microsoft software—11 terabytes of operating systems, servers, applications, developer tools, and more—including both current releases and old versions.
Download this article and thousands of whitepapers and ebooks from our Premium library. Enjoy expert IT analyst briefings and access to the top IT professionals, all in an ad-free experience. The TechNet license terms have always restricted use of downloaded software and product keys to evaluation scenarios. Their use in live operating scenarios, including staging or production environments, is specifically prohibited.
The software that subscribers download from TechNet is identical to the versions Microsoft provides to its retail and enterprise customers. And there are no Microsoft detectives hunting down customers who flout those license terms and run TechNet software on production systems. The last retail TechNet subscriptions will run out on September 30, When that day comes, TechNet subscribers will lose the ability to sign in to the TechNet servers and download from the software stored there, nor will they be able to claim additional product keys.
Software and keys that have been acquired from TechNet and saved to local storage will continue to work, but no new or replacement downloads will be available. For them, the almost free ride is almost over. But that leaves a large number of customers who have a legitimate business need to install and use Microsoft software for evaluation and testing. Microsoft offers multiple programs at a variety of price ranges—starting with free—that offer access to its software, including Windows desktop clients, Windows servers, and multiple versions of Microsoft Office.
None of these programs is identical to TechNet, but hopefully one of the alternatives will meet your needs. The paid subscriptions service may be riding off into the sunset, but the free TechNet Evaluation Center lives on. This program allows you to download and install full-featured evaluation versions of Microsoft software, which you can run on physical hardware or in virtual machines.
All of these downloads are time-bombed. When the clock runs out, they stop working or shift into reduced functionality mode. But the evaluation periods should long enough to do some very thorough testing. If you develop or manage websites, you have a legitimate need to test your sites to make sure they run on modern versions of Internet Explorer.
To make that testing possible, Microsoft has created a comprehensive set of virtual machines that run combinations of operating systems and browsers. You can pick them up from the Internet Explorer Dev Center, which is cleverly named modern. These are bit VMs, time-limited but not otherwise crippled in any way.
That makes them ideal for evaluation purposes. The Windows 7 images are good for 30 days and can be rearmed twice, for a total of 90 days of use. And a friendly note: Although these VMs are intended for use by web developers, they can do anything you can accomplish in that version of Windows. If you write code professionally and need to test it against the software your customers are likely to run, this is the program for you. MSDN offers subscriptions at five levels, at steadily increasing prices.
Close Menu. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Technet Subscription Promo Code. Thread starter taternuts Start date Dec 2, Joined Aug 15, Messages Hey does anyone know if there are any current promo codes for purchasing a Technet Subscription for Microsoft.
I plan on purchasing one soon but they are expensive and any money I can save on it would be awesome. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Joined Jan 8, Messages 8, The best way to do it if a promo code isn't available is through a reseller like Amazon.
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