"tech reader" <tecread@gmail.com> wrote in
news:O43WVfbUIHA.4196@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl:

How nice to have someone actually express thanks. You're welcome
and thank YOU.

"forum"

Not sure what you mean by "hierarchy".

There are people more or less officially qualified to give
advice, like Mr. Terhune, although some of them often just point
you to MS sites for help. Mr. Terhune has actually produced a
(presumably) very useful 2 CD-R set of updates for 98 so he has
done much more than some others.

There are people who are not crazy about MS but use it anyway
because they're too old to learn Linux, like me, who look at
things a little radically in comparison to the MVP's etc. I
point to /other/ sites than MS which usually (IMO) contain
better and less biased info. Not to mention MS pages are huge
and difficult to wade through (not unlike some of their
products).

There is the occasional poster who just thinks s/he knows the
answer - sometimes very useful, sometimes a total waste of time
or worse.

There are people who know an awful lot but post VERY rarely.

The person who has solved problems that bugged me for YEARS and
others which no one could even scratch at is Franc Zabkar (hope
you don't mind the public endorsement, Franc).

MVP - Most Valuable Professional - a (non-monetary) "prize"
title given yearly to people who have given (presumably) very
good support (on and off MS internet forums etc.) to users
trying to find their way through the "logical" and "quality"
software MS produces and sells at vastly inflated prices.
Sometimes I think the title is fairly meaningless, sometimes I
think it's a pat on the back to people who toe the line,
sometimes I think it is well deserved. Who knows.

Shell/User - no idea.

Shell is one of the terms for the Windows graphical interface,
user is user, what the combo means I know not but I am sure
someone else will enlighten us.


--
Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.
Edward Abbey (1927 - 1989)