Site Update: Thurrott Premium and More

We’re bearing down on the end of September, and we have a big trip planned next week to Atlanta for Microsoft Ignite. So I wanted to provide another update about the work we’re doing to improve Thurrott.com for both Premium and non-Premium members.

And as promised, we’ve been hard at work. Indeed, most of the burden of these updates has fallen on Brad, Tim (web guru), George, Tina, Stephanie, and others. But what the heck, I’ll take all the credit. Or at least explain what’s happening.

There’s a lot going on, but here’s the big date to keep in mind: October 3, 2016. This is when the new site is fully launched. And again, this includes new features for both Premium and non-Premium members.

OK, let’s step through how we get there.

Forums. The new forums will go live on Monday, September 26, providing all users of the site—Premium and non-Premium—with a new site experience.

New comments system. This also goes live on Monday, and also impacts for both Premium and non-Premium members. You will now use your Thurrott.com login to access comments, or you can use social accounts like with Facebook, Google, or Twitter.

First Ring podcast. Brad and I will soft-launch the First Ring podcast during Ignite, with 20-25 minute shows on both Monday and Tuesday, and these shows will be free and open to all. The following Monday, October 3, the daily version of the podcast will start, and we’ll be recording from our new home-based studios. The shows we record Monday through Thursday will only be for Premium members, but the Friday episodes will be live and open to everyone.

Alpha club promotion pricing is ending. If you’ve been waiting to join Thurrott Premium, the special $42 promotional annual pricing is ending on October 3: On that day, we switch over to the normal $64 annual pricing model. For those who do/did get in during the alpha club promo pricing period, your one-year membership “starts” October 3, so you won’t need to renew until October 3, 2017. Nice, right?

New homepage design. On October 3, we will also unveil a new homepage design too, which of course impacts everyone. It’s pretty great.

And yes, there will be additional Premium and non-Premium features rolling out after October 3, as well. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Here we go.