Making the comparison even more difficult, you have to factor in some additional licensing-related considerations: Determining what’s included at each level is so mind-bogglingly complicated, in fact, that the company has created a comparison matrix and a companion spreadsheet with more than 1,300 rows that lists what’s in each edition. Which MSDN subscription makes most sense for you? Microsoft doesn’t make that calculation easy. But the MSDN offerings, although more expensive across the board, are arguably more useful. Microsoft dropped its TechNet subscriptions, which had been popular among IT pros and enthusiasts, several years ago. Depending on your workload, you might find it more economical to invest in an MSDN subscription that includes both access to on-premises software and a monthly allowance for Azure usage. Those virtual machines are also tremendously useful for testing purposes, especially for software developers and anyone in the pilot phases of a Windows 10 deployment. SEE: Cloud platform spotlight: The top three contenders You’ll need to crunch the numbers and determine whether the hourly rate for a VM is worth it just be sure to factor in the amount you’ll save on antacid from with the absence of stress over sudden hardware failures and licensing issues. If you’re deploying a server for production use, using the Azure cloud eliminates a lot of headaches. In my last column, I introduced some of the virtualization options in Microsoft Azure and showed how easy it is to set up a virtual workstation or server in Microsoft’s cloud. For more info, visit our Terms of Use page. This may influence how and where their products appear on our site, but vendors cannot pay to influence the content of our reviews. We may be compensated by vendors who appear on this page through methods such as affiliate links or sponsored partnerships. Ed Bott offers essential details to help you make the best choice. MSDN subscriptions offer on-premises tools plus an allowance for Azure usage-but the options are somewhat complicated. A quick guide to choosing the right MSDN subscription

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