When I was working as a contract programmer more than a few years ago one of the best perks of the job was the access the the complete MSDN (Microsoft Developers Network) subscription. At that time it was an incredibly expensive subscription that gave you physical copies of just about all of the software sold by Microsoft. The price, given that it was the top subscription level available, was prohibitive for anyone but companies.

Over the years that subscription service has changed names and changed plans but at its core it was still an excellent way to have access to all of Microsoft’s products for what was really a reasonable price if you spread the cost over the use of those products in your company. For individuals though it was a little harder to justify the subscription fees and I know because I looked a few times when I was a freelance developer.

What I didn’t know though was that a recent revamp of the TechNet, as the service is called, saw a new addition to the various levels and I gotta tell you – it’s one hell of a great deal. Both gHacks and Paul Thurrott had posts on it this morning but here is the gist of the deal courtesy of Mike and Paul:

Each product key can be used to install up to 10 versions of the OS or application, for the most part. But that’s actually 100 (yes, 100) installs for each Windows 7 product edition, because you can activate each key 10 times. So you get 100 installs of Windows 7 Ultimate, 100 installs of Windows 7 Professional, 100 installs of Windows 7 Home Premium, and so on. That’s an incredible value, though it should be noted that this program is designed for a single person. You can’t share the product keys with others. What you’re getting, essentially, as an individual is multiple, unlimited installs of the products that are included with the subscription … for yourself.

So obviously the burning question is – how much?

Are you sitting down?

Try $199.00 (or $149.00 if you are renewing your subscription). Yes that’s right – for 200 bucks you get 10 to 100 installs (depending on how you use the the product keys) of Windows 7 which even at only 10 installs it means that each install of Windows cost you $19.90 – a far cry from the $149.00 retail price for one copy.

But then you also have full versions of Office to sweeten the pot. Now granted these are technically for evaluation only for companies however for private individuals (home/student type situation) this doesn’t really apply.

Personally if I was able I would be lining up right now to grab this deal, and it is one I would recommend to anyone who uses Windows and/or Office, the only problem is that I can’t buy a subscription. For the majority of people with credit cards there aren’t any problems but for those who don’t have credit cards – well you’re out of luck. I had hoped against hope that Microsoft might finally have become consumer friendly enough to accept PayPal but alas they haven’t.

All that aside I can’t stress hard enough how good of a deal this is and if you are in the market for another copy of Windows 7 or looking to get the new Office suite do yourself the biggest favor possible and haul your ass over to the TechNet site and get yourself a subscription – you’ll thank me later.