"Jim Thomlinson" wrote:
I think I will try the new forum before I express an opinion on whether it
is
better or worse.

You are right: I had not looked. Not that I have, I can offer the opinion
that I think the interface is even worse that the "Discussion Groups"
interface, if you can imagine that. (But of course, that is only one
opinion. To each his own.)

But I hasten to note that my previous comments were not intended to be about
the interface per se. I was not expressing any opinion then about whether
it is better or worse. Frankly, I don't care one way or the other.

I was expressing concern that Microsoft was limiting "forum" access to
Microsoft's method. My concern is based on Microsoft's historical failure
to maintain a reliable interface (web or otherwise, makes no difference to
me), and its historical failure to provide reason support of their
interface, e.g. a rudimentary "contact us" link to report problems. (No
matter: Microsoft does not address reported problems anyway. ;-)

I also expressed concern (along with compliments) about the moderator
process. That is based on two decades of experience with the NG moderator
process. The good: hopefully less spam, if not none at all. The bad:
potential delays, and possible censorship. MVP Ron Coderre can offer his
insight. Apparently he is (one of) the moderator for (some of) the new
Excel forums. (Note to Ron: I hope you have alternate moderators. That is
essential to process.)

Lastly, I was expressing concern about having only one method for posting
inquiries/responses -- a single point of failure. We have benefitted from
having multiple methods; when your favorite method encountered problems,
there was another method to post a "what's happening?" question, at the very
least.

Moreover, the openness of the NG server and the alternative archive sites
permitted me to troubleshoot and explain some posting problems. I have
dispelled some misunderstandings; and I have exposed some bad practices on
the MSnews server in particular. The opaqueness and uniqueness of the new
forum interface makes all that impossible. So we are entirely dependent on
Microsoft for support; and that comes full circle to my primary concern that
Microsoft has proven unable or incapable of supporting such forums.

Oh well, such as life....


----- original message -----

"Jim Thomlinson" wrote in message
...
I think I will try the new forum before I express an opinion on whether it
is
better or worse. Just my 2 cents.
--
HTH...

Jim Thomlinson


"Joe User" wrote:

wrote:
Starting in early summer 2010, Microsoft will begin
progressively closing down the Microsoft public newsgroups
to enrich conversations in the rapidly-growing forum
platform.

Translation: Microsoft will force people to use the web interface that
they
have maintained so poorly for years and that is the least reliable and
least
feature-rich interface for these "forums" that I am aware of.

Confirmation of that fact comes from the official Microsoft Newsgroup
website http://www.microsoft.com/communities...s/default.mspx. In
the Q&A the

"Q: Where can I access these forums from?
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/forums/default.mspx"

The only potentially good thing to come out of this....

"Q: What should newsgroup users prepare for that will be different?
[....]
Additionally, Microsoft newsgroups are not moderated, while the forums
will
be."

But the operative word is "potentially".

First, Microsoft has demonstrated complete ineptitude in managing
"forums".
Their tools do not work. MS does not respond to problem reports. In
fact,
they do not even provide an effective way to report problems with
"forums".

Second, moderating a group is either highly labor-intensive or useless
(just
a pass-thru).

But if the moderation is real (and effective), that will mean that
postings
will incur delays.

Moreover, I have never heard of moderation done on a scale this large.
Consider the traffic in the m.p.excel newsgroups alone. Well, perhaps
Microsoft will depend on MVPs to be moderators.

Oh well....


----- original message -----

wrote in message
...
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...s/default.mspx concerning
this issue. The Microsoft Newsgroup website will be made available in
additional languages in the next few days.


.