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Intel backtracks on support forum closures

Updated Busy week for U turns at Chipzilla

Hard on the heels of this week's decision to stab Rambus in the back [er, surely 'offer Pentium 4 users a choice of memory?' - Ed], comes another Intel U turn.

Chipzilla's unilateral decision a couple of weeks back to close all its support forii met with a storm of protest from regular users. Intel planned instead to deal with all technical queries by personal email.

Amongst the most vocal protestors were members of the motherboard support forum who were greeted with the following message when they logged in on July 18:

"Intel is announcing the closure of the Intel Motherboards for Pentium III or Pentium II processors support forum. The forum closure will begin July 28th, by transitioning to read-only for 2 weeks, then closing down completely on August 11th, 2000."

But now a different message appears:

"This forum was originally scheduled to close on August 14th, 2000. Based on the feedback received from our forum participants, Intel is re-evaluating the forum closure schedule and it will be updated at a later date. Please continue to use these forums according to their charter."

A similar missive would appear to exist on all other forums. We checked those for Pentium III, Celeron and Networking so it looks very much as if Intel is reacting to pressure from user demands, which can only be applauded.

But at the moment it isn't clear if this is a genuine change of heart or just a temporary reprieve. An Intel Europe spokesman said that the company was still evaluating the best strategy for providing support.

"It might be email, it might be a revamped forum with a list of FAQs," he said.

But it's a shame to have to report that Intel has once again acted in haste only to repent at leisure. ®

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