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Change in Format for Knowledge Base Articles

In an effort to standardize naming conventions for its technical articles, Microsoft has eliminated the letters at the beginning of the article identifiers.

In an effort to standardize naming conventions for its technical articles, Microsoft has eliminated the letters at the beginning of the article identifiers.

The letters used to be how Microsoft distinguished its Knowledge Base articles in different languages. Articles in English, for example, were prefaced with a “Q,” French with “F,” and German with “D.” In all, TechNet articles are published in 21 languages. Additionally, articles in different languages were given different numbers. Now articles will have one number only, regardless of language. That means some articles in non-English languages will have different numbers now. Not to fear, though: For the next two years, URLs to KB articles will still function, but no more articles are being published using the old conventions. The new interface for searching the KB will automatically detect your language settings through either a cookie or your browser’s language settings.

For a listing of the previous language prefixes used, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;kbnumb.

About the Author

Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.

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