Microsoft has been delivering the bad news to its subscribers today, advising them by email of the retirement of its popular TechNet subscription service on 31 August 2013. In the email, forwarded to techngaming.com by a TechNet subscriber, Microsoft claims the reason for doing so is due to the evolution of "IT trends and business dynamics":
Microsoft have also put up a TechNet retirement FAQ which gives this explanation for retiring the TechNet subscription service:
Existing subscribers will not be affected however, since "Subscribers with active accounts may continue to access program benefits until their current subscription period concludes".
This will no doubt come as a bit of a shock to those who have come to rely on TechNet subs over the last 15 years as a cheap way to legally obtain and use a lot of very expensive Microsoft software.
Looking back on it though, one could see that the writing was on the wall for some time, since the benefits of a TechNet subscription have been slowly eroded over the last three years or so. Previously, a sub would get you almost all of Microsoft's latest software, along with the previous versions, including 10 activation keys for each version - that's an awful lot of software adding up to many thousands of pounds, for a small fee of around £230 / $350 for the Professional subscription.
These were full retail products too, including the latest pricey server operating systems with no functionality restrictions, either. Also, the software could be used forever on a "trial" basis ie not on a live, production system. This was phenomenal value to anyone buying a subscription for the first time.
Then, in an apparent bid to curb piracy, Microsoft started reducing the value of this subscription, first by reducing the number of activation keys to 5 per product in 2010 and to just 3 in 2012. Finally, the latest terms and conditions really nuked the value of a sub, by limiting use of the software to just the trial period, with this little line, short and sweet: "You may not use the software if you do not have an active subscription". Ouch! At this point, the value of a TechNet sub had become very debatable and a rather expensive way to simply trial some software. Note that while the licence prevented a subscriber from using the software beyond the subscription expiry date, this wasn't enforced in the software and activation keys continued to work.
Surely Microsoft knew that subscibers would use the keys to pirate its products by illegally selling them on when it first started the subscription service and it still made billions in profit operating this way, so why the change of heart now? It also begs the question of why the deal was so generous in the first place. It would seem that it's more than just piracy fears that have killed off TechNet, but Microsoft aren't saying what it is.
This appears to be the latest in a long line of epic missteps by Microsoft in recent years including Windows Vista, Windows 8 with the loss of the Start button and its new, restrictive interface, along with the Xbox One draconian DRM restrictions which it was later forced to U-turn over, so I'm not really surprised that Microsoft have done this.
It's looking very much like the rise of mobile computing, with Google's Android as the most popular operating system on these devices followed by Apple's iOS, is pushing Microsoft inexorably towards irrelevance and these are the thrashings of a company trying to avoid its fate, but going about it in all the wrong ways. Perhaps it's time that Microsoft changed its CEO, Steve Ballmer, before it's too late?
Below is a screenshot of the email sent out today.
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, 2013.
Microsoft have also put up a TechNet retirement FAQ which gives this explanation for retiring the TechNet subscription service:
Microsoft is retiring 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.
Existing subscribers will not be affected however, since "Subscribers with active accounts may continue to access program benefits until their current subscription period concludes".
This will no doubt come as a bit of a shock to those who have come to rely on TechNet subs over the last 15 years as a cheap way to legally obtain and use a lot of very expensive Microsoft software.
Looking back on it though, one could see that the writing was on the wall for some time, since the benefits of a TechNet subscription have been slowly eroded over the last three years or so. Previously, a sub would get you almost all of Microsoft's latest software, along with the previous versions, including 10 activation keys for each version - that's an awful lot of software adding up to many thousands of pounds, for a small fee of around £230 / $350 for the Professional subscription.
These were full retail products too, including the latest pricey server operating systems with no functionality restrictions, either. Also, the software could be used forever on a "trial" basis ie not on a live, production system. This was phenomenal value to anyone buying a subscription for the first time.
Then, in an apparent bid to curb piracy, Microsoft started reducing the value of this subscription, first by reducing the number of activation keys to 5 per product in 2010 and to just 3 in 2012. Finally, the latest terms and conditions really nuked the value of a sub, by limiting use of the software to just the trial period, with this little line, short and sweet: "You may not use the software if you do not have an active subscription". Ouch! At this point, the value of a TechNet sub had become very debatable and a rather expensive way to simply trial some software. Note that while the licence prevented a subscriber from using the software beyond the subscription expiry date, this wasn't enforced in the software and activation keys continued to work.
Surely Microsoft knew that subscibers would use the keys to pirate its products by illegally selling them on when it first started the subscription service and it still made billions in profit operating this way, so why the change of heart now? It also begs the question of why the deal was so generous in the first place. It would seem that it's more than just piracy fears that have killed off TechNet, but Microsoft aren't saying what it is.
This appears to be the latest in a long line of epic missteps by Microsoft in recent years including Windows Vista, Windows 8 with the loss of the Start button and its new, restrictive interface, along with the Xbox One draconian DRM restrictions which it was later forced to U-turn over, so I'm not really surprised that Microsoft have done this.
It's looking very much like the rise of mobile computing, with Google's Android as the most popular operating system on these devices followed by Apple's iOS, is pushing Microsoft inexorably towards irrelevance and these are the thrashings of a company trying to avoid its fate, but going about it in all the wrong ways. Perhaps it's time that Microsoft changed its CEO, Steve Ballmer, before it's too late?
Below is a screenshot of the email sent out today.
