No new subscriptions will be allowed after August 31, the company announced

Jul 2, 2013 09:26 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has just announced that its TechNet subscription service will be officially retired on August 31, so all customers who purchase or renew their subscription by that date are required to activate them by the end of September.

The TechNet service has been used by Microsoft to provide early access to paying customers to its latest products, be they Windows, Office, or developer tools.

Even though the first thing that comes in mind when hearing about the retirement is piracy, Microsoft claims that this isn’t the real reason behind the decision.

“In recent years, we have seen a usage shift from paid to free evaluation experiences and resources. Although the TechNet Subscriptions service has experienced piracy and license misuse in the past, there was no single factor in the decision to retire the TechNet Subscriptions service,” the company said.

All existing accounts will remain active until they expire, but no new subscriptions will be accepted after August 31.