It may have improved over the years (or not)
When researching issues, Bing (surprise, surprise!) searches often hit on posts in the Answer forums. No, it has not improved over the years. Not only is it still a chaotic mess, but many of the "Agents" there remind me of typical tier 1 tech support people at many ISPs and company warranty support sites - poorly paid "techs" (cough cough) with next to nothing for training who only know how to follow a checklist - or in these cases, plug in canned texts that rarely apply to the OP's problem.
And I find that very sad. I realize free tech support is very expensive - typically yielding $0.00 in returns. But Microsoft already has an image problem. And clearly, they have the resources to staff the forums with highly qualified people. The problem, as I see it, is a typical one for Microsoft - they want it their way or no way. If they set up their forums the way many of the better tech sites run their forums, I feel they will have happier customers and even more people willing to help out.
But what do I know?
