From: infidel+@pitt.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.announce
Subject: Welcome to comp.os.ms-windows.announce!
Date: 16 Oct 92 22:10:13 GMT
Reply-To: poster
Followup-To: poster

Updated: Fri Oct 16 18:01:07 EDT 1992


Welcome to comp.os.ms-windows.announce!
------- -- ----------------------------

a) What is comp.os.ms-windows.announce about?

      The comp.os.ms-windows.announce group is for posting (not discussing) 
   any announcements related to the Microsoft Windows Operating Environment
   (or Operating System, depending on your particular taste.)  


b) What kind of things should I post here?

     Well, since this is an .announce group, there will generally be no
   discussion going on here.  However, don't be afraid to post if you 
   hear of something that may be of interest.  See below for some
   suggestions.  Please do not post questions to this group; they are
   more suitable for one of the other groups.  If you do have a question
   about something that you can't get answered anywhere else, you can 
   mail me at one of the addresses below, and I'll do what I can. 
     
   Possible topics for this group include:

  - New commercial Windows Products available.

      I'll try to keep up on what's out there for the getting and how 
    much you'll have to shell out to get it.  This will be probably
    limited by volume, and perhaps this information will be archived and
    kept so if, say, you're in the market for a Word Processor, you can
    comparison shop.  We'll see how this goes.  Please note that if you
    are a commercial vendor, I will accept product announcements, just
    please try to make them more informative than just marketing hype.
    It seems to be a general consensus of the moderators on the net that
    this kind of stuff does not constitute "commercial use of the net",
    so feel free to post.  I will ask (perhaps surprisingly) that a
    price be included with any product announcements, as price could be
    a useful factor to a prospective buyer.

  - New shareware/freeware available.

      If you hear of a new shareware/freeware product (and especially if
    you are the author), please post an article including:

    - relevant ftp sites and directories
    - brief description or evaluation of the product (try to be
       objective and sensible about this, please!)
    - registration fee, future plans, etc.

  - New drivers, etc.

      Yes, I'll actually try to keep track of where you can go to get
    your SuperFoobar 16 zillion colors windows drivers, etc.  Actually,
    most of these end up on ftp.cica.indiana.edu, in pub/pc/win3/drivers. 
    If you can't find a particular driver there, perhaps your best
    course of action is to post an article to one of the other groups
    (perhaps comp.os.ms-windows.setup).  You can feel free to mail me if
    you REALLY can't find something, but you'll probably find that I
    have no special powers of acquisition for this type of stuff.
      I would also like to thank Aaron Bregel for periodically making 
    available the list of drivers available from the MS Support BBS at 
    (206) 637-9009.  Chances are, if you see it there, you can get
    it somewhere on the net.

  - Windows conferences, meetings, exhibits.
      
      I'll post whatever I hear about any Windows-related goings-on.

   Again, don't be afraid to post anything you feel is appropriate!
   Developers conferences, seminars, etc., are all fair game.


c) I've never used a moderated group before. How does it work?

     In most cases, you can just post as you normally would, and your
   news program will take care of the rest (as long as it's >v2.11).  If
   you have an older version of inews, or if you post and get a
   rejection notice or never see your article nor hear from me, you
   will have to mail the articles to me directly at:     
   
       infidel+win-announce@pitt.edu

d) Does this group have a FAQ?

     Well, the other groups do.  The FAQ's for comp.os.ms-windows is 
   maintained by Tom Haapanen (tomh@wes.on.ca), and is available
   periodically on comp.os.ms-windows.misc and comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.
   The FAQ is also available in WinHelp format from ftp.cica.indiana.edu,
   under the filename pub/pc/win3/misc/winfaq1.zip.


Plans for the future:  I'm really not too sure anymore.  I would
appreciate some feedback on what else (if anything) you would like to
see here... So, if you have something to suggest, please F)orward an
article or R)eply to this message, and I'll get it either way.

One thing I would like to make available is a digest of old articles
(just in case someone needs something)... I currently keep all articles
that have been posted on the group on-line, so feel free to mail me and
I can mail you back an index of all the articles, or, if you know what
you're looking for, just mail me and I'll send it back to you.  I would
like for this to be available via anonymous ftp, but that's a little
broken here...  If you use AFS, you can access the articles with a cd to
/afs/pitt.edu/usr1/infidel/win/articles, and cp'ing to your hearts
content.


If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, hate mail, etc.,
please send them all to "infidel+query@pitt.edu".  Some sites seem to be
having problems getting mail to my AMS addresses, so if your mail bounces,
or you have reason to believe that I never recieved your mail or article
submission (you will either see your article or hear from me in a day or
two in most cases),  please try one of the following alternate addresses:

Internet: infidel@cislabs.pitt.edu or infidel@vms.cis.pitt.edu
BITnet:   infidel@pittvms