Microsoft needs to learn how to use their handy dandy URL routing know-how and, for Pete's sake, KEEP TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION ONLINE at a static URL where it will never move. Said URL should be organized logically where it it will never be meaningless, rather than a codified flavor-of-the-day database/CMS URL.

Bad: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ms123402.aspx

Good: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/2.0/breakingchanges/  (redirects to or proxies the "Bad" URL)

I spent several minutes trying to track down the .NET 2.0 Breaking Changes documentation. Microsoft's 404 page didn't even bother to give me any best-guess assistance, it just said, "We're sorry, but the page you requested could not be found. Please check your typing and try again, or use the search options on this page." Sorry? You're sorry?! This was a very important document and only three or four years have passed, and you're "sorry"? You're not sorry. You're lazy. If this didn't happen so regularly I wouldn't mind so much but it seems like anything older than a couple years gets treated this way.

It is not enough if documentation stays online, guys; the URL matters equally, because it's the URL that blogs, forums, and articles reference in everyday online business. You need to name your URLs more carefully than you name the titles of your documents, and keep them forever. 50 years from now I expect the same data to be at the same URL, period.

By the way, the corrected URL for .NET Framework 2.0's Breaking Changes list is: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa570326.aspx. We'll just see how long this one lasts. *sigh*  I'd be tempted to spider it but there's an MSDN Library CD/DVD lying around here somewhere...