MSDN and TechNet Subscriptions 2.0 Upgrade Coming Right Up

Microsoft is gearing up to introduce the next-generation subscription download experience for members of its developer and IT professional hubs.

In the image on the left you can see a screenshot of the Beta development milestone of Subscriptions 2.0 on MSDN.

MSDN subscribers already familiar with this area of the portal will undoubtedly be able to identify a range of enhancements compared to the old look and feel.

For your convenience, I also included a screenshot of the old Subscriptions 1.0 design below, and you can easily compare the two.

As you can see, the Redmond company has done away with the left hand side pane, in favor of modern menus which drastically improve the navigation experience.

It’s now easier to search for MSDN downloads, to browse products according to their name and explore product categories.

This is the kind of experience that all MSDN and TechNet subscribers can expect to see soon, according to the software giant.

“I want to let you know that the MSDN-TechNet Subscriptions 2.0 Beta will end on November 16. The MSDN-Technet Subscriptions engineering team and I want to thank all of you who used the Beta and provided feedback; it’s been extremely valuable to us. Thank you!” said Bob Vogt, program manager, MSDN-Technet Subscriptions.

“We've learned a lot and made improvements based your comments, and we have more improvements planned. We always welcome any feedback that you may have, now and in the future. If you have used the Beta, please delete any bookmarks you've created for specific Beta pages to avoid broken links after the Beta ends. We will be upgrading the 1.0 Subscriptions site to 2.0 in the near future.”

For the rest of this week at least, the MSDN and TechNet Subscriptions 2.0 Beta will remain active, which give all subscribers the chance to test it before Microsoft introduces the real thing.