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From: nntp on 20 May 2010 01:04

What is Happening?
This message is to inform you that Microsoft will soon begin discontinuing
newsgroups and transitioning users to Microsoft forums.

Why?
As you may know, newsgroups have existed for many years now; however, the
traffic in the Microsoft newsgroups has been steadily decreasing for the
past several years while customers and participants are increasingly finding
solutions in the forums on Microsoft properties and third party sites. This
move will unify the customer experience, centralize content, make it easier
for active contributors to retain their influence, mitigate redundancies and
make the content easier to find by customers and search engines through
improved indexing. Additionally, forums offer a better user and spam
management platform that will improve customer satisfaction by encouraging a
healthy discussion in a clean community space. To this end, Microsoft will
begin to progressively shift available resources to the forums technology
and discontinue support for newsgroups.

In addition to offering a compelling online browser experience, for those
users who prefer to use an NNTP (newsgroup) reader to participate in the
newsgroups community, we have developed a solution called the NNTP Bridge
which allows a user to connect a variety of supported NNTP readers to the
forums they would like to participate in and continue having the NTTP reader
functionality. You can find instructions on how to download and set up the
NNTP Bridge here: http://connect.microsoft.com/MicrosoftForums/

Which Newsgroups Are Affected by this Shutdown?
All public newsgroups will eventually be closed between June 1, 2010 and
October 1, 2010. Microsoft will be closing newsgroups in a phased approach,
starting with the least active newsgroups and moving eventually to more
active ones throughout the course of the next six months.


Where Should I go with the Closure of this Newsgroup?
In an effort to enhance and improve your experience, this newsgroup is scheduled for closure in the upcoming months. In the coming weeks, we will update you with the specific forum recommended to continue your discussions through posts in this newsgroup.

Should you want to visit the other Microsoft Forums, please go to
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/forums/default.mspx

Who Should I Contact with any Questions?
Send any questions about the process, recommended forums and timing to
NNTP(a)microsoft.com
From: Tim Roberts on 21 May 2010 01:29
nntp(a)microsoft.com wrote:
>
>What is Happening?
>This message is to inform you that Microsoft will soon begin discontinuing
>newsgroups and transitioning users to Microsoft forums.
>
>Why?
>As you may know, newsgroups have existed for many years now;

Duh. 30 years. Newsgroups are older than a very large fraction of the
people who are reading this newsgroup.
--
Tim Roberts, timr(a)probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
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