This page was written by Len Meads, and appears here with his generous permission. This article is Copyright 1999, Leonard E. Meads. All rights reserved. To increase the chances of getting a speedy, accurate answer to a question in the MS public NGs, I always recommend connecting directly to the MS public server rather than via a Usenet server. MS Online Support creates these NGs, but does not give technical support in them.
Responders are users who voluntarily reply to help others.
These NGs use the hierarchy name microsoft.public. In late July 1999, about 1000 official MS public NGs existed. There were 21 dedicated to Excel, including 6 non-English language groups. From time to time, MS opens new NGs and closes old ones by adding or removing them, respectively, from the MS public server. When an old NG is closed, it might be replaced, sometimes by one or more new NGs.