I am not sure that they would take any notice of Microsoft. Microsoft I
suspect owns the server msnews.microsoft.com. I don't believe it owns the
groups, and it certainly doesn't own the material posted in them. I recall a
forum microsoft.public.word.general that Microsoft removed from its server
many years ago, that maintains an independent life (though it is not on the
text server I have been testing). Were Microsoft able to close down the
whole of Usenet aimed at its products, that would an act of corporate
vandalism on a huge scale.
The big difference will be that Microsoft will not longer link its help
forums to the Usenet world. Frankly it was a pain when it did so and has
been nothing but trouble - but it did ensure a steady supply of
contributions via those forums. Without that link, the traffic will
undoubtedly drop (and many corporates block NNTP access, so we will lose
those too). The problem is that only those of us who have been around for a
while are aware of the newsgroups. Microsoft does not give them any
publicity that I could easily find. Instead it will take its users to the
new forums, and the NNTP bridge they have provided will ensure that those of
us who haunt the newsgroups will be able to access the users who take that
change of direction ... if we can find them.
--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Yves Dhondt said:
That's what I'm hoping for.
I guess it is all up to the major NNTP service providers (GigaNews,
SuperNews, ...). They serve hundreds of local ISPs and mirroring forums.
If they decide to pull the plug on the newsgroups (on a request made by
MS), the groups will disappear pretty fast. Otherwise, I guess they will
remain up and running for a long time.
Yves