Microsoft kills 4,000 old-style newsgroups

On Fudzilla @ http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/18711/38/

Microsoft kills 4,000 old-style newsgroups Print E-mail
Written by Nick Farrell
Wednesday, 05 May 2010 09:25


Go to new sites you dinosaurs

Microsoft is going to kill support for more than 4,000 old-style
newsgroups starting next month.

It said that it wants users to go to discussion forums such as those
found on the Microsoft Answers, TechNet, and MSDN sites. Microsoft said
that so-called NNTP newsgroups are past their time in terms of being
usable and secure.

In a statement Redmond said that the newsgroups run on an outdated and
discontinued platform that is no longer supported, making them
vulnerable to spam and other usability issues. The company said that its
forums get 15 million visits a month and have been growing, on average,
12 percent each month. Participation in the old newsgroups has dropped
nearly in half over the past year.

Forums are also moderated by Microsoft to ensure content is “accurate
and to encourage richer conversations”. So calling someone a nazi is
supposed to be a thing of the past. The newsgroups first appeared in
April 1996, replacing the Microsoft-sponsored discussion forums on
CompuServe.

On 06/05/2010 in message <> Bobby
Johnson wrote:

>In a statement Redmond said that the newsgroups run on an outdated and
>discontinued platform that is no longer supported

I can't believe they said something so inaccurate, although they have
never given much indication that they understand Usenet.

>The newsgroups first appeared in April 1996, replacing the
>Microsoft-sponsored discussion forums on CompuServe.

Usenet has been around since 1980, MSFT were rather late to the party.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

> Go to new sites you dinosaurs

roarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

> Microsoft is going to kill support for more than 4,000 old-style
> newsgroups starting next month.
>
> It said that it wants users to go to discussion forums such as those found
> on the Microsoft Answers, TechNet, and MSDN sites. Microsoft said that
> so-called NNTP newsgroups are past their time in terms of being usable and
> secure.

I'm not an astro physicist and I can use USENET flawlessly for over a
decade. Virus/attack free.

> The company said that its forums get 15 million visits a month and have
> been growing, on average, 12 percent each month. Participation in the old
> newsgroups has dropped nearly in half over the past year.

OMFG, that tells me that web forums will be twice as worse in 1 year from
now
Can someone live with a 30 million threads web based forum?

> In a statement Redmond said that the newsgroups run on an outdated and
> discontinued platform that is no longer supported, making them vulnerable
> to spam and other usability issues.

If newsgroup is outdated, then IT free qualified support is also outdated.

And my questions are:
What is M$ wanting? To discontinue online free qualified support to their
users?
What if these users decide to no longer support M$ and discontinue Windows
platforms?

TMA wrote:

Snips...

> And my questions are:
> What is M$ wanting? To discontinue online free qualified support to
> their users?
> What if these users decide to no longer support M$ and discontinue
> Windows platforms?

The idea must be to steer us toward paid support. One school of thought
is that if your OS trouble isn't bad enough to pay for help, then it
must not be a problem. However, some of us work and don't have time to
sit on hold for a couple of hours or maybe we have a simple question,
one of those nice to know type requests that, in real life, we can live
without.

I agree with the poster regarding alt.windows7.general, just set up
killfiles and forge ahead...
--
TOM - Vista, CA - USA

I'm not happy, but there will continue to be an NNTP solution. Either normal
Usenet groups (as opposed to microsoft. usenet groups), or the Forums via
the NNTP bridge. That's what I'll be using. No, I'm not happy about it. But
it is what it is, and I've pushed back and delayed it as long as I (and the
other MVPs who fought this fight) can.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/russel




"Bobby Johnson" <> wrote in message
news:...
> On Fudzilla @ http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/18711/38/
>
> Microsoft kills 4,000 old-style newsgroups Print E-mail
> Written by Nick Farrell
> Wednesday, 05 May 2010 09:25
>
>
> Go to new sites you dinosaurs
>
> Microsoft is going to kill support for more than 4,000 old-style
> newsgroups starting next month.
>
> It said that it wants users to go to discussion forums such as those found
> on the Microsoft Answers, TechNet, and MSDN sites. Microsoft said that
> so-called NNTP newsgroups are past their time in terms of being usable and
> secure.
>
> In a statement Redmond said that the newsgroups run on an outdated and
> discontinued platform that is no longer supported, making them vulnerable
> to spam and other usability issues. The company said that its forums get
> 15 million visits a month and have been growing, on average, 12 percent
> each month. Participation in the old newsgroups has dropped nearly in half
> over the past year.
>
> Forums are also moderated by Microsoft to ensure content is “accurate and
> to encourage richer conversations”. So calling someone a nazi is supposed
> to be a thing of the past. The newsgroups first appeared in April 1996,
> replacing the Microsoft-sponsored discussion forums on CompuServe.
>

>
>>In a statement Redmond said that the newsgroups run on an outdated and
>>discontinued platform that is no longer supported
>
> I can't believe they said something so inaccurate, although they have
> never given much indication that they understand Usenet.
Actually, from a MS perspective, it's completely accurate. They run on
Windows, and Exchange. Both quite a bit older versions than current.

>
>>The newsgroups first appeared in April 1996, replacing the
>>Microsoft-sponsored discussion forums on CompuServe.
>
> Usenet has been around since 1980, MSFT were rather late to the party.
Yes, they were. And I lamented the day the moved off of CompuServe as well,
since it was a FAR superior platform for discussion groups to anything
Usenet. And Usenet is FAR, FAR superior to web forums. But there we are,
it's not anything we can change.

Has NOTHING to do with paid support. Much as I might lament the decision,
adding in conspiracy won't lend itself to improving things.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/russel




"TOM7601" <> wrote in message
news:%23Vp%...
> TMA wrote:
>
> Snips...
>
>> And my questions are:
>> What is M$ wanting? To discontinue online free qualified support to their
>> users?
>> What if these users decide to no longer support M$ and discontinue
>> Windows platforms?
>
> The idea must be to steer us toward paid support. One school of thought is
> that if your OS trouble isn't bad enough to pay for help, then it must not
> be a problem. However, some of us work and don't have time to sit on hold
> for a couple of hours or maybe we have a simple question, one of those
> nice to know type requests that, in real life, we can live without.
>
> I agree with the poster regarding alt.windows7.general, just set up
> killfiles and forge ahead...
> --
> TOM - Vista, CA - USA

"Charlie Russel - MVP" <> wrote in message
news:...
>>
>>>In a statement Redmond said that the newsgroups run on an outdated and
>>>discontinued platform that is no longer supported
>>
>> I can't believe they said something so inaccurate, although they have
>> never given much indication that they understand Usenet.
> Actually, from a MS perspective, it's completely accurate. They run on
> Windows, and Exchange. Both quite a bit older versions than current.
>
>>
>>>The newsgroups first appeared in April 1996, replacing the
>>>Microsoft-sponsored discussion forums on CompuServe.
>>
>> Usenet has been around since 1980, MSFT were rather late to the party.
> Yes, they were. And I lamented the day the moved off of CompuServe as
> well, since it was a FAR superior platform for discussion groups to
> anything Usenet. And Usenet is FAR, FAR superior to web forums. But there
> we are, it's not anything we can change.

If someone knows how, all of these newsgroups could be set up under the alt.
newsgroups using something like alt.ms.word alt.ms.excel etc.

In message <> "Bogey Man"
<> was claimed to have wrote:

>If someone knows how, all of these newsgroups could be set up under the alt.
>newsgroups using something like alt.ms.word alt.ms.excel etc.

There is no need to rename the groups, the existing microsoft.public.*
groups exist on usenet at large, not just MS' own NNTP server.

On 10/05/2010 in message <> Dave
Warren wrote:

>In message <> "Bogey Man"
><> was claimed to have wrote:
>
>>If someone knows how, all of these newsgroups could be set up under the
>>alt.
>>newsgroups using something like alt.ms.word alt.ms.excel etc.
>
>There is no need to rename the groups, the existing microsoft.public.*
>groups exist on usenet at large, not just MS' own NNTP server.

They are MSFT private groups which MSFT disseminate to the world at large.
If MSFT turn them off they will disappear.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation