For the record (and reminder): Microsoft NNTP newsgroups ceasing

If you have been following the Microsoft newsgroups ("Usenet groups") using and NTTP reader such as Outlook or FreeAgent, then you might have noticed that Microsoft is about to stop supporting these newsgroups in the near future.

Personally, I think it is a shame, because offline reading with a proper reader application is much more efficient than using a web interface. While the web is great for casual use (no installs, no setups), for day-to-day usage and using without an Internet connection (yes, that is my case almost daily), the web interface just won't work. For the record, here's the message Microsoft is sending:

From: nntp@microsoft.com
Subject: Reminder - Microsoft Responds to the Evolution of Community
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.dotnet.xml
Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 21:58:25 -0700
NNTP-Posting-Host: tide548.microsoft.com 131.107.0.118

What is Happening?
This message is to inform you that Microsoft will soon begin discontinuing
newsgroups and transitioning users to Microsoft forums.

Why?
As you may know, newsgroups have existed for many years now; however, the
traffic in the Microsoft newsgroups has been steadily decreasing for the
past several years while customers and participants are increasingly finding
solutions in the forums on Microsoft properties and third party sites.  This
move will unify the customer experience, centralize content, make it easier
for active contributors to retain their influence, mitigate redundancies and
make the content easier to find by customers and search engines through
improved indexing.  Additionally, forums offer a better user and spam
management platform that will improve customer satisfaction by encouraging a
healthy discussion in a clean community space.  To this end, Microsoft will
begin to progressively shift available resources to the forums technology
and discontinue support for newsgroups.

In addition to offering a compelling online browser experience, for those
users who prefer to use an NNTP (newsgroup) reader to participate in the
newsgroups community, we have developed a solution called the NNTP Bridge
which allows a user to connect a variety of supported NNTP readers to the
forums they would like to participate in and continue having the NTTP reader
functionality.  You can find instructions on how to download and set up the
NNTP Bridge here: http://connect.microsoft.com/MicrosoftForums/

Which Newsgroups Are Affected by this Shutdown?
All public newsgroups will eventually be closed between June 1, 2010 and
October 1, 2010.  Microsoft will be closing newsgroups in a phased approach,
starting with the least active newsgroups and moving eventually to more
active ones throughout the course of the next six months.

Where Should I go with the Closure of this Newsgroup?
In an effort to enhance and improve your experience, this newsgroup is
scheduled for closure in the upcoming months and we would like to invite
you to participate at
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xmlandnetfx/threads forum(s).
An exact date will be posted in advance as plans are finalized. 

Should you want to visit the other Microsoft Forums, please go to
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/forums/default.mspx

Who Should I Contact with any Questions?
Send any questions about the process, recommended forums and timing to NNTP@microsoft.com

I haven't yet tried the mentioned NNTP Bridge, available through Microsoft's Connect site, but hopefully it will be a solution for my needs. But it seems the NNTP newsgroups in general are about to be replaced with a web interface. Usually, I'm for new technologies replacing older ones, but when it comes to NNTP, I prefer them over web interfaces at least today. Compare Outlook native client with Outlook Web App (OWA), for instance. The former is much better, even though OWA isn't bad either.