Not a Vista Question, but...

I have used news forums such as this for years - dating all the way back to
Windows 95. I have recently noticed that my favorite Microsoft Word -- and
other software specific forums -- are no longer being supported by
Microsoft. They contained some brilliant MVP professionals. Has this
talent disbanded altogether, or have they re-grouped elsewhere under another
banner?

Thanks in advance.

Gordon Biggar
Houston, Texas

Microsoft is in the process of killing off its newsgroups. They will all be killed by October 1 of this year. Its alternative is a web-based forum approach that you can access via here:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...-US/categories

steve

"Gordon Biggar" <> wrote in message news:538184C6-ACB6-43F4-8B18-...
>I have used news forums such as this for years - dating all the way back to
> Windows 95. I have recently noticed that my favorite Microsoft Word -- and
> other software specific forums -- are no longer being supported by
> Microsoft. They contained some brilliant MVP professionals. Has this
> talent disbanded altogether, or have they re-grouped elsewhere under another
> banner?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Gordon Biggar
> Houston, Texas
>

Hi, Gordon.

As Steve said, The Powers That Be at Microsoft decided - over the vigorous
protest by Steve and me and many other MVPs - that Newsgroups are dead and
Forums are the future. :>(

Many of us, including myself, are accessing the Forums in a quasi-newsgroup
format by using an "NNTP Bridge", which lets us read and post to the forums
using Windows Live Mail or another NNTP newsreader of our choice. Microsoft
created two such bridges, one for the Answers forums and another for forums
on the IT Pro-level Microsoft, TechNet, etc., "brands". But MVP Jochen
Kalmbach produced a better version which is freely available at:
http://communitybridge.codeplex.com/

Hmm...I see V40 of the Community Forums NNTP Bridge is available now; I'm
still on V38, so maybe I need to update.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2010 (15.3.2804.0607) in Win7 Ultimate x64


"Gordon Biggar" wrote in message
news:538184C6-ACB6-43F4-8B18-...

I have used news forums such as this for years - dating all the way back to
Windows 95. I have recently noticed that my favorite Microsoft Word -- and
other software specific forums -- are no longer being supported by
Microsoft. They contained some brilliant MVP professionals. Has this
talent disbanded altogether, or have they re-grouped elsewhere under another
banner?

Thanks in advance.

Gordon Biggar
Houston, Texas