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Microsoft has announced some new product support changes on the Microsoft Answers forums. The company says the forums will no longer provide technical support for older Microsoft Products, though it still encourages users to use it and interact with each other (via MSPoweruser.)
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The change will take into effect on July 2018, and Microsoft Staff will no longer proactively review, monitor, or answer questions for a certain subset of old Microsoft products (seen below). Microsoft Staff, however, will still be present in these parts of the Answers forum and will instead moderate and ensure a safe and positive environment. Support for the following products is being discontinued across various forums in the Microsoft Answers community.
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- Windows 7, 8.1, 8.1 RT
- Microsoft Security Essentials
- Internet Explorer 10
- Office 2010, 2013
- Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, Surface RT, Surface 2
- Microsoft Band – this topic will be locked. Users are invited to participate in Microsoft Band 2 topic.
- Mobile devices forum – Microsoft support will continue in “Other Windows mobile devices” topic
- Zune – this topic will be locked, but will remain available for browsing
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Microsoft did not provide any detailed explanation for this, but a forum moderator wrote the move is apparently being made to “shift support scope.” The news is rough for those with older products but it hints that Microsoft is obviously positioning its staff for only supporting newer devices and products moving forward. Still, Windows 7 and 8.1 are pretty popular, as is the Surface Pro 2, so some might feel insulted by this news. Sound off and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
\n\nFurther reading: Microsoft, Microsoft Answers, support