Why no W7 newsgroup from Microsoft?

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Paul H

Where can I post Windows 7 queries? Why is Microsoft refusing to include a
W7 newsgroup? Do they have an alternative means of answering user
questions? Not an inconvenient forum, I hope!
 
Paul H said:
Where can I post Windows 7 queries?
Click to expand...

Microsoft has not created any Win7 newsgroups in the
microsoft.public.* hierarchy. They want everybody to use the web
forums. You can use the Usenet group alt.windows7.general
Why is Microsoft refusing to include a W7 newsgroup?
Click to expand...

They haven't actually said, but they appear to dislike newsgroups and
want to replace them with web forums.
Do they have an alternative means of answering user questions?
Not an inconvenient forum, I hope!
Click to expand...

Yeah, that seems to be exactly what they have in mind.
 
Where can I post Windows 7 queries? Why is Microsoft refusing to
include a W7 newsgroup? Do they have an alternative means of answering
user questions? Not an inconvenient forum, I hope!
Click to expand...

Ask MS.

In the meantime, try alt.windows7.general.
 
Where can I post Windows 7 queries? Why is Microsoft refusing to include a
W7 newsgroup? Do they have an alternative means of answering user
questions? Not an inconvenient forum, I hope!
Click to expand...


Unfortunately it's highly unlikely that there will be any Microsoft
Windows 7 newsgroups. Apparently Microsoft has decided that web-based
forums are better than newsgroups and they are putting their efforts
there. I'm personally sorry that's the case, but it's their decision,
not mine. Go to
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/default.aspx?tab=2

However there is at least one non-Microsoft Windows 7 newsgroup:
alt.windows7.general. Not all servers carry it (at least not yet), but
here's one free news server that does: aioe.org
 
Dave said:
There are no Microsoft Win 7 groups.
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief, Microsoft does not own nor control the
microsoft.public.(what-ever) hierarchy or set of newsgroups.

If any NNTP server operator wanted to create and propagate the newsgroup
microsoft.public.windows7.general then they certainly could, and other
peering operators could choose to carry them if they wished.

Microsoft has "retired" a number of newsgroups on their own servers over
the years, but many of those groups still exist on the "world-wide"
usenet even if they no longer exist on Microsoft's own servers.
 
I find forums clumsy at best. The newsgroup provides a clear list of
queries, and if a "+" exists, then answers are available. We all learn from
those answers.
 
Paul H wrote: > Where can I post Windows 7 queries? Why is Microsoft
refusing to include a > W7 newsgroup? Do they have an alternative
means of answering user > questions? Not an inconvenient forum, I hope!
 
News Guy said:
Contrary to popular belief, Microsoft does not own nor control the
microsoft.public.(what-ever) hierarchy or set of newsgroups.
Click to expand...

They created them on their servers. Many (nearly all) admins of other
Usenet servers have chosen to carry many or all of those groups.
If any NNTP server operator wanted to create and propagate the newsgroup
microsoft.public.windows7.general then they certainly could, and other
peering operators could choose to carry them if they wished.
Click to expand...

True, but in practice other sysadmins are very unlikely to create a
group in the microsoft.* hierarchy. Or any other company's hierarchy,
for that matter.
Microsoft has "retired" a number of newsgroups on their own servers over
the years, but many of those groups still exist on the "world-wide"
usenet even if they no longer exist on Microsoft's own servers.
Click to expand...

True. There are rules for getting rid of groups in the Big 8
hierarchies, and (I think) sysadmins generally abide by them. But
outside of that, in alt.* and elsewhere, newsgroups can live forever.
 
I find forums to be a big pain. There all different, difficult to navigate.
And in order to register
you need, in some, to input that stupid register code aimed at preventing
non-humans from registering.
Hell I can't make heads or tells of some of them.

Just my 2 cents.

James
 
I find forums to be a big pain. There all different, difficult to navigate.
And in order to register
you need, in some, to input that stupid register code aimed at preventing
non-humans from registering.
Hell I can't make heads or tells of some of them.
Click to expand...


Yes, yes, and yes. And also much slower to use.

Note that you can use the NNTP Bridge with the Microsoft Windows 7
forums, and thereby access them through a newsreader (as I do).
 
So why hasn't anyone? Why did people have to go the alt.* route?
Click to expand...

Because you can create an alt group in about 5 minutes. The other "Big
8" groups require going through a detailed process where you will
often encounter anal retentive dictatorial dweebs with a severe
megalomaniac complex.

As for the MS groups, I don't think anyone would bother creating one
since MS would not respect the "create group" request and most people
would not see it as they access the groups by the MS server. But, you
can contact one of the less mainstream news server admins and try :-)
 
I find forums to be a big pain. There all different, difficult to navigate.
And in order to register
you need, in some, to input that stupid register code aimed at preventing
non-humans from registering.
Hell I can't make heads or tells of some of them.
Click to expand...

The "stupid register code" is called "Captcha". I guess it's a pun on
"capture", but someone told me the other day that it is an acronym that
actually stands for something, although we both thought the acronym words
were probably made up after the fact.

I can't always make heads or tails of them either. It makes me wonder if
that means I'm a computer or bot myself :-)
 
Gene E. Bloch said:
The "stupid register code" is called "Captcha". I guess it's a pun on
"capture", but someone told me the other day that it is an acronym that
actually stands for something, although we both thought the acronym words
were probably made up after the fact.
Click to expand...

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans
Apart
I can't always make heads or tails of them either. It makes me wonder if
that means I'm a computer or bot myself :-)
Click to expand...

There's a fine line between making the image simple enough to be
human-readable and making it complex enough to foil the bots.
 
Hooray! It's not just me!

JamesJ said:
I find forums to be a big pain. There all different, difficult to navigate.
And in order to register
you need, in some, to input that stupid register code aimed at preventing
non-humans from registering.
Hell I can't make heads or tells of some of them.

Just my 2 cents.

James
Click to expand...
 
Must be!
Some I have no problem with and others I don't.
I've had some registration questions where you are simply asked to add a
couple numbers
or answer a question from history. But a good bot probably will get around
it.

James
 
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