Today, I got asked what the difference was between:
- TechNet Subscriptions
- MSDN Subscriptions
TechNet is squarely aimed at IT Professionals. It provides:
- the ability to download much of Microsoft’s software library along with Activation keys for a broad array of primarily INFRASTRUCTURE products.
- the ability to call Microsoft Professional Support for TWO incidents
- access to 1 or more “collections” of Microsoft eLearning
- priority support access to the TechNet Forums – a place to ask technical questions that are monitored by Support Engineers & Product MVPs
The software provided with TechNet Subscriptions is designed for hands-on IT Professionals to evaluate Microsoft software and plan deployments. The software provided in TechNet Subscriptions can be used for evaluation purposes only. TechNet does not contain any development tools (such as Visual Studio or Expressions), nor does it contain any of our SDKs, platform tools, designer tools, or embedded systems products. Here is a list of products that are available through TechNet:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/7/8/C78DB720-88CB-455E-AA0E-A087CB332A23/TechNet_Product_List.xlsx
- Here’s a list of benefits of TechNet subscriptions: http://technet.microsoft.com/subscriptions
- More info on TechNet subscriptions: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/subscriptions/bb892759.aspx
MSDN is designed for Developers. The software provided with MSDN Subscriptions is for design, development, testing, and demonstration of software programs. It has a lot of older technology as well compared to TechNet to assist developers with regression testing. It provides:
- the ability to download most of Microsoft’s software library along with Activation keys for the purposes of development, testing, demonstration.
- no-charge access to cloud services like Team Foundation Service, Windows Azure,
- access to 1 or more “collections” of Microsoft eLearning
- the ability to call Microsoft Professional Support for TWO incidents or FOUR incidents depending on the subscription level
- priority support access to the MSDN Forums – a place to ask technical questions that are monitored by Support Engineers & Product MVPs
Here’s a list of benefits of MSDN Subscriptions: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa718661
More info on MSDN subscriptions: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/buy.aspx
Both MSDN and TechNet subscriptions are licensed per user.
SOFTWARE:
As far as software goes, there is a 3rd party comparison of the software that is available in each subscription here. (I can’t guarantee it’s accuracy but it seems like it’s fairly accurate from a faraway glance)
http://geekswithblogs.net/mtreadwell/archive/2011/08/19/146599.aspx
PRICING:
- TechNet subscription pricing depends on the option selected and ranges from $199 to $599 retail.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/subscriptions/hh442910 - MSDN subscription pricing also depends on which option is selected & ranges from $699 to $13,299 retail.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/buy.aspx
kurtsh
Kurt Shintaku's Blog 