[joanie-f]

Everything you have said is a valid concern/annoyance. You are not among those I have described as whiners.

I said: Isn't it possible that much of the discomfort people are feeling right now is simply the result of having to learn something new, or having to simply adjust their ingrained expectations as to what they are going to be met with, visually, when the page pops up? If that is the case, then time (and a relatively small amount of it) will cure the 'problem.' If not, then maybe Jim and John do indeed have a formidable amount of re-working to do. I'm betting that it's eighty percent the former, and twenty percent the latter.

Your (big) concerns appear to be in the twenty-percent category, and I hope Jim and John can address them to your satisfaction. If not, the forum has indeed taken a giant step backwards. But I'm willing to bet that you're going to be happy with the adjustments that are no doubt in the works, if you're patient enough to hang around.

[nopardons]

If the loading time problem isn't solved, there's no advantage for me, nor anyone else effected , to " hang around " here. I've grown accustoed to the interchange ; however, as far as getting news is concerned, the lag time is such a problem, that as things stand now, there'll be at least three new suicide bomb attacks, in Israel, before I manage to get back to the forum page, to find out , as I'm waiting for it to load. I can get the news faster, on the radio or T.V., or Drudge now .

The other major problem, is that the added bells and whistles ( pagger , etc. ) are incompatable with WebTV and simply DO NOT WORK ! I can't use the insructions to " subscribe " to TOPICS ... there are NONE that show , as is stated in the side bar. I have automatically been " given " highighted topics , one of which I DO NOT WANT , and there is no way to remove it.

The top of the screen, on the news forum page, is sliced in twain, so that I can only see the bottom most portion. The font size, in the side bars and on top ( no, I have NO way of fixing that ) is almost illegable.

If any more damned bells and whistles are to be added, NO I 'll NOT be " pleased " by them , as they, and the majority of the prior ones have been, will be UNUSABLE !

I can learn new things . I can't " learn" / get used to something that I am almost entirely being shut out of.