MSDN Library
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MSDN Library is a library of content intended for developers. (MSDN stands for the Microsoft Developer Network.) It is available on the Web and on CDs and DVDs.
[edit] Criticisms
Each edition of MSDN Library can only be accessed with one help viewer, which is tied to one or sometimes two versions of Visual Studio. A "MSDN Library for Visual Studio version" is released with each version of Visual Studio so that developers still can use the MSDN Library while waiting for the next compatible edition. For example, the only MSDN Libraries compatible with Visual Studio 6.0 are from MSDN Library for Visual Studio 6.0 to the October 1998 MSDN Library to the October 2001 MSDN Library. The only MSDN Libraries compatible with Visual Studio .NET 2003 are from MSDN Library for Visual Studio .NET 2003 to the April 2003 MSDN Library to the January 2006 MSDN Library. Later editions of MSDN Library are only compatible with Visual Studio 2005. Obviously Microsoft assumes that developers will use the latest developer tools (with the exception of the Jan 2006 MSDN Library, which still integrates with Visual Studio .NET 2003 instead of Visual Studio 2005, probably because this edition is the first edition to cover Windows Server 2003 R2), which is not true realistically.
