Microsoft cannot "end these newsgroups"; Microsoft can remove their servers
from the Internet, so you will have to find a new server. Microsoft can also
send an "authenticated something-or-other" to other servers requesting they
no longer carry these groups, but few news servers follow those directives,
I hear, because they have wreaked havoc in the past when forged.

I'll be moving the microsoft.public.access groups that I follow to my new
news server and hope they will not remove the groups.

So, except for the minimal trouble of changing news servers if you read
these groups at "news.microsoft.com" and the fact that the microsoft website
will no longer direct you to the groups or to their UI for the groups, you
may not see all that much drop-off of activity in the microsoft.public
newsgroups. There are some USENET newsgroups that were "officially replaced
by others broken down by subject" around 15 years ago that are still hanging
on in some servers -- comp.lang.basic.visual, for example.

--
Larry Linson, Microsoft Office Access MVP
Co-author: "Microsoft Access Small Business Solutions", published by Wiley
Access newsgroup support is alive and well in USENET
comp.databases.ms-access


"Aria via AccessMonster.com" u44643@uwe wrote in message
news:a88960101e312@uwe...
Ken,
smile You're always helpful and provide useful information. I read a
post
that said the termination of the Microsoft newsgroups would affect 3rd
party
sites. I thought this would include Access Monster. I hope it doesn't.
Thank
you so much for the information and the links. While I'm not particularly
enamored with the MS forum to date, there's always the hope that it will
turn
out better than expected.


KenSheridan wrote:
Aria:

You don't need to use a newsreader if you prefer a web-based interface as
there are a number of the latter which will enable you to access the comp.
databases.ms-access newsgroup to which Larry referred. I've only just
realised that this is what the 'General 1' section does in AccessMonster,
which I'm using at the moment to access this group. Its other sections
access this newsgroup. I'm assuming that it will continue to operate
after
this newsgroup is consigned to the dustbin of history. You can find it
at:

http://www.accessmonster.com

Its free to use and setting up an account is only a few minutes work.

Google Groups is another web-based option which seems to be quite popular,
though I'm not too enamoured of it myself. You'll find the
comp.databases.ms-
access group at:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp....-access/topics

I'm sure you'll find most of the names you've become familiar with here at
comp.databases.ms-access in the near future if not already, and there will
be
no diminution in the level of help you'll receive. From the evidence to
date
the new MS forums don't look promising.

Ken Sheridan
Stafford, England

Well, maybe I shouldn't jump in here but I've been concerned ever since I
read the posts regarding the termination of these newsgroups. I'm really
sad
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
of social.answers.microsoft.com -- nothing like the number of newsgroups
has
been discussed, AFAIK.

--
Message posted via http://www.accessmonster.com