BizTalk MSDN links: They're going away. This is your 'heads up' moment.

Hello friends. I hope this blog post finds you well, and warm snuggled up with some hot chocolate and marshmallows. Please keep this warm and fuzzy feeling while we brace for the MSDN retirement, and the future of docs.microsoft.com.

Downloadable PDFs

All BizTalk 2000 - BizTalk 2010 MSDN documentation links are going to redirect to a downloadable PDF. Meaning, when you click on a BizTalk 2009 link, it redirects to the BizTalk 2009 documentation that is a downloadable PDF on download.microsoft.com. The MSDN links are going away for the following versions:

  • BizTalk 2000
  • BizTalk 2002
  • BizTalk 2004
  • BizTalk 2006 and 2006 R2
  • BizTalk 2009
  • BizTalk 2010

Their content now exists in a PDF file for you to download, and optionally print to give as birthday and anniversary gifts. I know some of you are big fans of the BizTalk 2004 architecture topics. As an FYI, it was suggested to delete the older topics (I'm looking at you BizTalk 2004), but I know from my many conversations with you all that you still rely on these older versions.

Docs.Microsoft.com

All "current" topics are at docs.microsoft.com/BizTalk. The "core" of BizTalk is the same, as it has been since BizTalk 2004. Meaning, we have the same databases, same architecture, mostly the same tools, and so on. The topics that apply to specific versions (BizTalk 2013 and BizTalk 2016) state this in docs, such as Install BizTalk 2013 or BizTalk 2016 prerequisites.

Most of the content on docs is in a public GitHub repository, and this includes the BizTalk Server documentation. So when you see something that needs updated, then update it. I review every Pull Request, so know that I got your back. I won't let a change get merged until I know it's fact.

For those that embraced this change, I applaud you, and appreciate your pull requests.

 

Many thanks,

Mandi Ohlinger