Microsoft Responds to the Evolution of Online Communities

[nntp@microsoft.com]

Date 5/4/2010
Starting in early summer 2010, Microsoft will begin progressively closing down the Microsoft public newsgroups to enrich conversations in the rapidly-growing forum platform. This decision is in response to worldwide market trends and evolving customer needs.

Microsoft continues to invest in forums to reduce customer effort, consolidate community venues and make it easier for active contributors to retain their influence. Forums provide a healthy community environment with less spam and make answers easier to find by customers and search engines. Additionally, forums offer a better user and off-topic management platform that will improve customer satisfaction by facilitating discussions in a clean space.

We understand that some newsgroups are still active, and important to the community. In the coming days and weeks, we will be rolling out tools and resources to minimize disruption to the community discussions.

We are working diligently on providing additional resources and information in local languages later this week. In the meantime, please refer to the official Microsoft Newsgroup website http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx concerning this issue. The Microsoft Newsgroup website will be made available in additional languages in the next few days.

 

[Steve Silverwood]

I hope by "tools and resources" they don't mean that Mickey-Mouse NNTP
Bridge they put out earlier this year. That was the biggest piece of
crap since Windows ME!

Just when I was thinking that Microsoft had its collective act
together, they pull this.... <sigh>

-- //Steve//


On Tue, 04 May 2010 14:40:08 -0700 (UTC), nntp@microsoft.com wrote:

>Date 5/4/2010
>Starting in early summer 2010, Microsoft will begin progressively
>closing down the Microsoft public newsgroups to enrich conversations
>in the rapidly-growing forum platform. This decision is in response
>to worldwide market trends and evolving customer needs.
>
>Microsoft continues to invest in forums to reduce customer effort,
>consolidate community venues and make it easier for active
>contributors to retain their influence. Forums provide a healthy
>community environment with less spam and make answers easier to find
>by customers and search engines. Additionally, forums offer a
>better user and off-topic management platform that will improve
>customer satisfaction by facilitating discussions in a clean space.
>
>We understand that some newsgroups are still active, and important
>to the community. In the coming days and weeks, we will be rolling
>out tools and resources to minimize disruption to the community
>discussions.
>
>We are working diligently on providing additional resources and
>information in local languages later this week. In the meantime,
>please refer to the official Microsoft Newsgroup website
>http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
>concerning this issue. The Microsoft Newsgroup website will be
>made available in additional languages in the next few days.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Steve Silverwood wrote:

>I hope by "tools and resources" they don't mean that Mickey-Mouse NNTP
> Bridge they put out earlier this year. That was the biggest piece of
> crap since Windows ME!

The tool has been improved meanwhile and an update has been published;
current version is 1.1..
Although it's not perfect one can really work with it.
I'm using it with WinMail (under Vista and Win7) and it works fine with
other NewsReaders (like 40tude Dialog and Forte Agent). And although
some things are missing it makes live ways easier than using the native
browser access.

IMO it's really bad that MS kills the NewsGroups. But we can't help.

Rainald

 

[Steve Silverwood]

On Fri, 7 May 2010 17:06:19 +0200, "Rainald Taesler" <taesler@gmx.de>
wrote:

>Steve Silverwood wrote:
>
>>I hope by "tools and resources" they don't mean that Mickey-Mouse NNTP
>> Bridge they put out earlier this year. That was the biggest piece of
>> crap since Windows ME!
>
>The tool has been improved meanwhile and an update has been published;
>current version is 1.1..
>Although it's not perfect one can really work with it.
>I'm using it with WinMail (under Vista and Win7) and it works fine with
>other NewsReaders (like 40tude Dialog and Forte Agent). And although
>some things are missing it makes live ways easier than using the native
>browser access.
>
>IMO it's really bad that MS kills the NewsGroups. But we can't help.

If they can somehow support NNTP properly, then that's okay. If
memory serves, though, Exchange supports NNTP newsgroups, and also
provides web access, so I'm surprised that they're going with a
web-only user interface -- just showcase Exchange's capabilities by
using it as a tool to provide group-based support.

I guess by criticising MS in this aspect I have kissed goodbye any
possible chance of ever getting a job with them, which is depressing
as that would be employment nirvana for me, but I gotta call 'em as I
see 'em....

I had a similar situation once at Computer Associates. Up until the
time of this story, I was the fair-haired boy in their tech support
department. (This was right after CA acquired Nantucket.) One of the
senior VPs, to whom I ultimately reported, called me in to ask my
opinion of a particular project he was considering. I've always told
people up front when being interviewed for a job, don't ask my opinion
of something unless you really want an honest answer -- I'm not a
'yes-man' never have been and never will be. He asked, I answered
that it was IMO one of the most ill-conceived disasters ever to see
the light of day. Unbeknownst to me, it was one of his pet
projects...! From that point on, I never saw a decent performance
review or pay raise (not even cost-of-living raises). Didn't matter
that the project turned out to be a complete bomb -- proving me 100%
correct in my assessment! -- I was still tainted. <sigh>

Nowadays, when asked similar questions, I ask them RIGHT THEN AND
THERE if they want my honest opinion, or if they just want an
endorsement...!

-- //Steve//

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Steve Silverwood wrote:
> Rainald Taesler wrote:
>> Steve Silverwood wrote:
>>
>>>I hope by "tools and resources" they don't mean that Mickey-Mouse
>>> NNTP Bridge they put out earlier this year. That was the biggest
>>> piece of crap since Windows ME!
>>
>>The tool has been improved meanwhile and an update has been published;
>>current version is 1.1..
>>Although it's not perfect one can really work with it.
>>I'm using it with WinMail (under Vista and Win7) and it works fine
>>with other NewsReaders (like 40tude Dialog and Forte Agent). And
>>although some things are missing it makes live ways easier than using
>>the native browser access.
>>
>>IMO it's really bad that MS kills the NewsGroups. But we can't help.
>
> If they can somehow support NNTP properly, then that's okay.

Just download the new version and try it out

>If
> memory serves, though, Exchange supports NNTP newsgroups, and also
> provides web access, so I'm surprised that they're going with a
> web-only user interface -- just showcase Exchange's capabilities by
> using it as a tool to provide group-based support.

Sorry, I never used Exchange and don't know anything about it

Rainald