{"id":5569,"date":"2013-08-30T18:06:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T02:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/stage\/?p=5569"},"modified":"2018-06-10T18:44:38","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T01:44:38","slug":"lack-of-proper-redirection-of-urls-on-microsoft-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/lack-of-proper-redirection-of-urls-on-microsoft-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Lack of Proper Redirection of URLs on Microsoft Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article I would like to provide some feedback to Microsoft on URL redirection on Microsoft Web sites. When Microsoft posts an article for a version of the product it has a certain article number. When the new version is released, often the article is updated to the new version which breaks the links on all the Web sites around the world that have links to the original article pointing to the previous version. Does this happen every time? No. Does this happen often? Yes. Here\u2019s an example. This is a common scenario that everyone around the world is experiencing so I thought it is worth documenting.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say Microsoft has an article on Group Policy enhancements in Windows Server 2008 and I have a link to that article posted on my blog. One day a reader visits my blog and clicks on the link. Instead of the article on Windows Server 2008 she is taken to the article on Windows Server 2012. She tells me about the broken link. I use Internet search to find the article on Group Policy enhancements in Windows Server 2008 and update my blog. By the way, finding the original Microsoft article using a Bing Internet search (or even searching the TechNet) doesn\u2019t always yield results very easily. I often have to go through some hoops to find the original Microsoft article, usually by relying on the \u201cother\u201d search engine.<\/p>\n

In this article there are two major issues that I would like to focus on.<\/p>\n

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  1. No redirection of URLs (i.e. broken links, Page not found errors).<\/li>\n
  2. Lack of proper URL redirection.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    No Redirection of URLs<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Whether it\u2019s Microsoft\u2019s public Web site, TechNet or MSDN site, or any other site, there are thousands of URLs that are flat out broken and lead you nowhere. Because Microsoft has one of the largest repository of public content in the world, it wouldn\u2019t be an exaggeration to say that Microsoft\u2019s Web site is one of the most broken Web sites in the world. With all the tools that are available to find the broken links, it is amazing how many links on Microsoft\u2019s Web sites are broken and give you Page not Found error. The same goes for links in Microsoft\u2019s Help files.<\/p>\n

    Lack of Proper URL Redirection<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Another issue has to do with the improper redirection. The above example where articles for 2008 are redirected to 2012 is an example of improper redirection. If I want to read an article on SQL Server 2005, redirecting me to an article on the same topic in SQL Server 2008 is not helpful. It forces me to waste my time to find the correct article.<\/p>\n

    The above scenario is also true for evaluation software. Evaluation software is great for testing the products before you deploy them on your corporate network. For my readers\u2019 convenience I have a blog post<\/a> with links to Microsoft\u2019s evaluation software. When the newer version comes out, the links on Microsoft\u2019s sites are updated, which means the readers cannot get to the original link that they need. For example, I posted a link to the evaluation version of Microsoft Office 2007. When Office 2010 was released the link to Office 2007 evaluation edition was redirected to Office 2010 download. I don\u2019t know about you but I personally would have preferred a new, separate link to the Office 2010 download so I can choose between the 2007 and 2010 versions, depending on what I am looking for. Now you could argue, and you will have a good point, that people are most likely to download the evaluation software of the latest version and that\u2019s why Microsoft redirects the URLs this way. However, my point is that all the blogs and Web sites that are pointing to these links are broken by this type of redirection. I don\u2019t know the real reason behind this redirection policy. Is it because Microsoft (marketing) wants everyone to use the latest version of their product and this is one way to push the products? I don\u2019t know but it definitely seems like a marketing-driven policy.<\/p>\n

    When it comes to the evaluation software, let me give you some good news. Microsoft has finally come up with one place where you can download the evaluation products. It\u2019s called TechNet Evaluation Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"TechNetEvalCenter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    The bad news is that the only products listed are the newest version of all products, which means that for previous versions you need to start searching the Internet until you find links to the download for previous versions. As I mentioned earlier, for my students\u2019 and clients\u2019 convenience I post the links to evaluation edition of the most popular Microsoft products<\/a>. It\u2019s not easy to keep up with Microsoft\u2019s musical chair of URLs but I try my best to keep the list updated. As far as I know, Microsoft doesn\u2019t offer such a list so you as a consumer have to rely on bloggers like me.<\/p>\n

    Feedback to Microsoft<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    I think Microsoft needs to step back and rethink its entire policy of redirecting URLs because the current policy is not helpful. Here are some useful suggestions for Microsoft.<\/p>\n