Yes. Or at least seriously damaged. > Is it excessive to blame Microsoft for destroying the enjoyment of > today's mailing lists? No. > (I am quite aware that people can and do turn off HTML and avoid > quoting the whole preceding message. But don't try to kid me: We > know from experience as listowners that *maybe* one in ten does > so.) Absolutely. Especially because M$ tells people they don't need to know or do anything to run the stuff, and then blindsides them by giving them stuff that makes their mail unreadable. I think the problem is that at M$ there's no history, and no need to know about it. They don't know, or care, that conventions and protocols for exchanging text already existed before they started developing their bloatware, and they have no reason to know, or care, because everybody buys their stuff anyway. (They're also destroyed file name conventions, but don't get me started on that . . .). -- Russ __|~_ Russell A. Hunt __|~_)_ __)_|~_ Professor of English St. Thomas University )_ __)_|_)__ __) PHONE: (506) 452-0424 Fredericton, New Brunswick | )____) | FAX: (506) 450-9615 E3B 5G3 CANADA ___|____|____|____/ [log in to unmask] \ / ~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.StThomasU.ca/~hunt/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~