Why aren’t installation issues in the installation guide?

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One of the Team Foundation managers recently asked me why we have a separate Readme document. The Readme, by definition, is for setup related issues, while the Known Issues document is for operational, non-setup issues. (You can view the Readme and Known Issue documents here: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/teamsystem/aa902633.aspx)

We already publish the Installation Guide separately from the rest of the documentation on MSDN. This gives us the flexibility to update the Installation Guide as often as needed. (You can download the Installation Guide from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E54BF6FF-026B-43A4-ADE4-A690388F310E&displaylang=en)

Some setup issues are published in both the Readme and in the Installation Guide. This duplication makes updating the documents more difficult and information in one document does not always make it into the other. It would make sense to combine the Readme with the Installation Guide – putting the setup related issues in a Readme section within the Installation Guide. Users would be able to see all of the setup documentation in one place, and updates to the Readme items could still be published as needed.

I would like your feedback. Do you like having a separate Readme document published under MSDN Support, or would you prefer to have setup related issues included only in the Installation Guide?

Let me know by sending us e-mail at vstsuetb@microsoft.com. I’ll collect the feedback and follow up with a post early next month on the results. This is your opportunity to contribute to a change in the look of the content.

Thanks,

Allison Bokone

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