Ray says he often uses the Knowledge Base first to do a little research when he has a question. And then he turns to the newsgroups. When I post questions, I get answers within a few hours almost all the time. To meet the needs of consumers and small-business users, Microsoft tailored the Personal Online site to emphasize the products consumers are most likely to use and the questions they are most likely to ask. It contains a lot of information about personal productivity applications, for instance, but not so much about BackOffice server suites.
Customers have the option of using two different versions of the site.
They can use the default version, which provides extensive branching of options and information designed to make it easy for consumers with very little technical background to find the information they need. Or they can use the advanced version, which is designed to provide streamlined choices that deliver information more quickly to users with more technical experience. The search engine that delivers Knowledge Base articles to consumers has also been customized to more easily pinpoint the articles that deliver the most appropriate information. Rundle said Microsoft continually refines Personal Online Support based on customer feedback. Surveys at the end of Knowledge Base articles, and pop-up Survey Wizards that question consumers after they've visited Personal Online, channel feedback to Product Support Services.