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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=7YQSqjSh" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://blogs.msdn.com:80/dantr/","20090121064601","https://web.archive.org/","web","https://web-static.archive.org/_static/", "1232520361"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=p7PEIJWi" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>Dan Truax's Blog</title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="CommunityServer 2.1 SP1 (Build: 61025.2)"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/web/20090121064601cs_/http://blogs.msdn.com/Themes/Blogs/vanilla/style/style.css" type="text/css" media="screen"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/web/20090121064601cs_/http://blogs.msdn.com/Themes/Blogs/vanilla/style/print.css" type="text/css" media="print"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/web/20090121064601cs_/http://blogs.msdn.com/Themes/Blogs/vanilla/style/right.css" type="text/css" media="screen"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/ico" href="/web/20090121064601im_/http://blogs.msdn.com/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Dan Truax's Blog (RSS 2.0)" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/rss.xml"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Dan Truax's Blog (Atom 1.0)" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/atom.xml"/> <script src="/web/20090121064601js_/http://blogs.msdn.com/Utility/global.js?Version=2.1.61025.2" type="text/javascript"></script> </head> <body> <form name="aspnetForm" method="post" action="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/Default.aspx" id="aspnetForm"> <div> <input type="hidden" name="__VIEWSTATE" id="__VIEWSTATE" value="/wEPDwUKLTMyNjg0MDc1MWQYAQUeX19Db250cm9sc1JlcXVpcmVQb3N0QmFja0tleV9fFgEFJmJwJF8kdiRfJEJsb2dTaWRlQmFyMSRfJHdzJF8kU2VhcmNoQm94gwmwevXSq3NSBIzhThOR+wl6G+c="/> </div> <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="/web/20090121064601js_/http://blogs.msdn.com/Utility/telligent_web_ui/1_0_3/Telligent_Modal.js"></script><script language="javascript" type="text/javascript"> // <![CDATA[ Telligent_Modal.Configure('/utility/loading.htm',['Modal'],['ModalTitle'],['ModalClose'],['ModalContent'],['ModalFooter'],['ModalResize'],['ModalMask'],100); // ]]> </script><script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20090121064601js_/http://blogs.msdn.com/utility/ratingcontrol.js"></script> <div id="container" class="clearfix"> <div id="header"> <h2><a id="bp___v___BlogTitleHeader1___BlogTitle" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/default.aspx">Dan Truax's Blog</a></h2> <p id="tagline">MSDN, TechNet, Expression, and CodePlex Online</p> </div> <div id="wrapper"> <div id="content" class="clearfix"> <dl class="entrylist"> <dt><span class="entrylistheader"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl01_PostTitle" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/06/24/the-major-themes-for-our-social-platform-investments.aspx">The major themes for our Social Platform investments</a></span><br/><span class="entrylistheadersub"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl01_PermaLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/06/24/the-major-themes-for-our-social-platform-investments.aspx">24 June 08 10:04 AM</a></span></dt> <dd> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">In May, when I first blogged on our social vision, I also said that we'd publish more information about our site and platform roadmap. We're ready to start doing that now. They best way to begin the conversation is to first talk about our investments <i>themes</i>. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Think of themes as high-level things that we think are important. They are...<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">An Integrated Site Experience<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">MSDN and TechNet have evolved over time as a family of loosely connected function-specific sites, like the Library, Forums, Blogs, and Centers. While this has allowed each site/app to innovate around its core task, the overall site experience has become fragmented, making it harder than it should be to use, and lowering success rates with core tasks like Learning and Troubleshooting.  We are in the process of unifying all of our major sites and apps on a single set of services for UX and navigation, search, tagging, and identity. This means single sign on, centralized profile and recognition points, and better usability.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Better Discovery<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">It probably comes as no surprise that the #1 driver of customer satisfaction on MSDN and TechNet is simple discoverability. People are happy and satisfied when they find what they need. We are working towards improving discoverability from several angles including ongoing enhancements to our site search, site and center design, and the intelligent surfacing of "related" and "community recommended" content.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Enabling Social Connections<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">We are opening the sites up to the technical community so that people can better connect and share knowledge. This means enabling people to have rich identities on our sites, contribute content, find each other, form groups, and collaborate.</span></p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"></span> </p> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">-Dan<o:p></o:p></span></p> <div class="entrylistfooter"> <span class="author"><span class="hiddentext">Posted</span>by <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl01_AuthorLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=110952">dantr</a></span> | <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl01_CommentsLink" class="commentslink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/06/24/the-major-themes-for-our-social-platform-investments.aspx#comments">2 Comments</a>     <div class="filedunder"><span id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl01_InlineTagEditorPanel">Filed under: <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/Expression/default.aspx" rel="tag">Expression</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/MSDN/default.aspx" rel="tag">MSDN</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/TechNet/default.aspx" rel="tag">TechNet</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/Community/default.aspx" rel="tag">Community</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/profile/default.aspx" rel="tag">profile</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/social/default.aspx" rel="tag">social</a></span><input type="hidden" name="bp$_$v$_$r$_$postlist$_$EntryItems$ctl01$InlineTagEditorPanel" id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl01_InlineTagEditorPanel_State" value="nochange"/></div> </div> </dd> <dt><span class="entrylistheader"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl02_PostTitle" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/06/11/new-ui-for-msdn-technet-and-expression-subscriber-downloads.aspx">New UI for MSDN, TechNet, and Expression Subscriber Downloads...</a></span><br/><span class="entrylistheadersub"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl02_PermaLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/06/11/new-ui-for-msdn-technet-and-expression-subscriber-downloads.aspx">11 June 08 10:39 AM</a></span></dt> <dd> <p>As you have noticed with recent releases, we are in process of significantly redesigning the experience of our MSDN, TechNet and Expression sites, as well as adding many new social applications and capabilities. While we do this we are not ignoring mission critical need you have to efficiently download the bits you pay for as part of your subscription. We know how critical that is. </p> <p>The team that builds the UX and interface for subscriber downloads is working to revamp the download experience and would love your feedback.  Please take a look at the <a class="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/bb980944.aspx" mce_href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/bb980944.aspx">current mock-ups</a>.  </p> <p>If you have a passion for this area and want to provide input or feedback - you can <a class="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/msdnsubscriptions/pages/more-info-please.aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/msdnsubscriptions/pages/more-info-please.aspx">communicate with the team directly</a>.</p> <p><span style="COLOR: #003300"><font color="#000000">Your feedback in these areas is really useful and very influential, so thanks in advance!</font></span></p> <p><span style="COLOR: #003300"> </span><span style="COLOR: #003300">-Dan</span></p> <div class="entrylistfooter"> <span class="author"><span class="hiddentext">Posted</span>by <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl02_AuthorLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=110952">dantr</a></span> | <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl02_CommentsLink" class="commentslink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/06/11/new-ui-for-msdn-technet-and-expression-subscriber-downloads.aspx#comments">0 Comments</a>     <div class="filedunder"><span id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl02_InlineTagEditorPanel">Filed under: <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/Expression/default.aspx" rel="tag">Expression</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/MSDN/default.aspx" rel="tag">MSDN</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/TechNet/default.aspx" rel="tag">TechNet</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/Subscriptions/default.aspx" rel="tag">Subscriptions</a></span><input type="hidden" name="bp$_$v$_$r$_$postlist$_$EntryItems$ctl02$InlineTagEditorPanel" id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl02_InlineTagEditorPanel_State" value="nochange"/></div> </div> </dd> <dt><span class="entrylistheader"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl03_PostTitle" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/27/social-bookmarking-for-msdn-technet-and-expression.aspx">Social Bookmarking for MSDN, TechNet and Expression</a></span><br/><span class="entrylistheadersub"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl03_PermaLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/27/social-bookmarking-for-msdn-technet-and-expression.aspx">27 May 08 03:19 PM</a></span></dt> <dd> <p>As many of you have heard, at TechEd we are planning to preview our work on adding a <a class="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/bookmarks/en-US/GettingStarted/" mce_href="http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/bookmarks/en-US/GettingStarted/">Social Bookmarking</a> capability for MSDN, TechNet and Expression. This is starting to get some attention on many blogs and other sites across the internet.  Many posts have been somewhat ambiguous as to the purpose of our Social Bookmarking capability and some have also speculated that this is an announcement that Microsoft is releasing a Social Bookmarking "product".</p> <p>The bookmarking capability that will be previewed at TechEd is specific to <a class="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://msdn.microsoft.com/" mce_href="http://msdn.microsoft.com">MSDN</a>, <a class="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://technet.microsoft.com/" mce_href="http://technet.microsoft.com">TechNet</a> and <a class="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://expression.microsoft.com/" mce_href="http://expression.microsoft.com">Expression</a>.  We have three primary goals for this.</p> <ol> <li>Allow customers to save their favorite bookmarks for IT, Developer and Designer related content within Microsoft and across the internet. </li> <li>Allow customers to see what is viewed as important by their peers and experts in the community</li> <li>Provide customers appropriate recognition for the contributions they make to the community using our social capabilities</li></ol> <p>This is not an announcement of a new Microsoft "product".  It is a follow on announcement to the <a class="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/14/social-platform-aka-community-platform.aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/14/social-platform-aka-community-platform.aspx">blog post</a> I wrote on May 14th where we announced our investments in MSDN, TechNet, and Expression as emerging social platforms.</p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>Dan</p> <div class="entrylistfooter"> <span class="author"><span class="hiddentext">Posted</span>by <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl03_AuthorLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=110952">dantr</a></span> | <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl03_CommentsLink" class="commentslink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/27/social-bookmarking-for-msdn-technet-and-expression.aspx#comments">2 Comments</a>     <div class="filedunder"><span id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl03_InlineTagEditorPanel">Filed under: <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/MSDN+TechNet+Expression+Community+Developer+IT+Social+Bookmarking/default.aspx" rel="tag">MSDN TechNet Expression Community Developer IT Social Bookmarking</a></span><input type="hidden" name="bp$_$v$_$r$_$postlist$_$EntryItems$ctl03$InlineTagEditorPanel" id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl03_InlineTagEditorPanel_State" value="nochange"/></div> </div> </dd> <dt><span class="entrylistheader"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_PostTitle" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/14/social-platform-aka-community-platform.aspx">Social Platform (aka Community Platform)</a></span><br/><span class="entrylistheadersub"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_PermaLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/14/social-platform-aka-community-platform.aspx">14 May 08 11:23 AM</a></span></dt> <dd> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">To better support new social experiences in applications like Forums and Social Bookmarks, we are investing in a new Social Platform, which will provide centralized services for User Profile, Recognition, and Tagging. By centralizing these services, MSDN and TechNet will put the individual customer at the center of the site (network) experience, increase discoverability of people and resources, and provide an integrated customer experience across the entire family of MSDN and TechNet applications. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">For example, by using a single user profile across Forums, Bookmarking, and Code Gallery, a customer will only need to sign in once to engage with all those applications, and contributions made within each application will all be recognized in the same user profile. Likewise, a single tagging service allows us to improve discovery and navigation by providing customers with feeds of various resources (e.g., Code Samples, Centers, Library Articles, Forums Posts, Bookmarks, etc.) filtered by tag.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Currently the team is in the process of integrating various applications like Code Gallery and Library with the Social Platform.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">We are committed to public APIs for the Social Platform and in the future we envision integration scenarios with other Microsoft sites as well as sites across the internet. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3"></font> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">In the next couple weeks I will publish our roadmap and/or prioritized list of platform features and capabilities so that you have a good idea of what is happening and the relative importance as we build out the platform.</font></p> <div class="entrylistfooter"> <span class="author"><span class="hiddentext">Posted</span>by <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_AuthorLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=110952">dantr</a></span> | <a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_CommentsLink" class="commentslink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/14/social-platform-aka-community-platform.aspx#comments">5 Comments</a>  <span id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_Ratings" title="Rated Excellent [5 out of 5 / rated 1 time(s)]."></span><input type="hidden" value="5" id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_Ratings_Value"/>   <div class="filedunder"><span id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_InlineTagEditorPanel">Filed under: <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/IT/default.aspx" rel="tag">IT</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/MSDN/default.aspx" rel="tag">MSDN</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/Developer/default.aspx" rel="tag">Developer</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/TechNet/default.aspx" rel="tag">TechNet</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/Community/default.aspx" rel="tag">Community</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/bookmarking/default.aspx" rel="tag">bookmarking</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/profile/default.aspx" rel="tag">profile</a>, <a href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/tags/social/default.aspx" rel="tag">social</a></span><input type="hidden" name="bp$_$v$_$r$_$postlist$_$EntryItems$ctl04$InlineTagEditorPanel" id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl04_InlineTagEditorPanel_State" value="nochange"/></div> </div> </dd> <dt><span class="entrylistheader"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl05_PostTitle" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/02/welcome-to-my-blog.aspx">Welcome to my Blog</a></span><br/><span class="entrylistheadersub"><a id="bp___v___r___postlist___EntryItems_ctl05_PermaLink" href="/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/archive/2008/05/02/welcome-to-my-blog.aspx">02 May 08 10:55 AM</a></span></dt> <dd> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I am Dan Truax – General Manager at Microsoft for a few major online customer web sites including </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://msdn.microsoft.com/" mce_href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">MSDN</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3">, </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://technet.microsoft.com/" mce_href="http://technet.microsoft.com/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">TechNet</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3">, </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://expression.microsoft.com/" mce_href="http://expression.microsoft.com/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Expression</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3">, and </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://www.codeplex.com/" mce_href="http://www.codeplex.com/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">CodePlex</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3">. If you would like to know more about me, </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/about.aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/dantr/about.aspx"><font face="Calibri" size="3">click here</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">I decided to start this blog because we are in the process of making some major changes to MSDN and TechNet. Going forward, and especially now, we want to have a much more direct and transparent discussion with you and make sure we have your feedback as we go along. <o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">The biggest change I'm talking about is that we're beginning a process of re-inventing MSDN and TechNet as community-driven sites where customers are at the center of the experience, and social experiences enable their success. <o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Our vision is to be the largest and most vibrant online community for developers and IT professionals, enabling easy connections to the best resources and most knowledgeable people from Microsoft and the global community. <o:p></o:p></font></font></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">That means we're opening up the sites to much more direct participation and contribution from the global developer and IT community. Ultimately that means two significant changes:<o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri"><span style="mso-list: Ignore"><font face="Calibri" size="3">1.</font><span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">       </span></span></span><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">MSDN and TechNet will include content, samples, scripts and code that are created and contributed <u>by our customers</u> in addition to what is developed and authored by Microsoft. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri"><span style="mso-list: Ignore"><font face="Calibri" size="3">2.</font><span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">       </span></span></span><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Content, whether customer- or Microsoft-created, will be prioritized for placement and discoverable largely by customers through social activities such as tagging and rating.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Going forward, I will be using this blog to share more details on our direction and update you on the progress we are making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span><o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">We want your input and feedback - here are two ways you can do that: First, is to respond to this blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>The second is that we have created new forums to allow Q&A and discussion on the future of TechNet and MSDN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>You can access those forums on </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://forums.msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/MSDNPlans/threads/" mce_href="http://forums.msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/MSDNPlans/threads/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">MSDN Forums</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3"> and </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064601/http://forums.technet.microsoft.com/en-US/TNPlans/threads/" mce_href="http://forums.technet.microsoft.com/en-US/TNPlans/threads/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">TechNet Forums</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p> <p mce_keep="true"> </p> <div class="entrylistfooter"> <span class="author"><span class="hiddentext">Posted</span>by <a 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