I referr you to a recent post that was multi-posted to all MS-Newsgroups
reproduced below :
Subject : "Final Reminder - Microsoft Responds to the Evolution of
Community"
Message : 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.
When will this Happen?
Effective June 1, 2010 this newsgroup will be closed.
Where Should I go with the Closure of this Newsgroup?
Microsoft has a large selection of forums, many of which cover either
the
same or closely related technologies to the ones found in the
newsgroups.
The forums have seen amazing growth and are an excellent place to
continue
the discussion. We recommend that you start with
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/categories
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
(e-mail address removed)
==
Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.
