Apple has announced plans to revamp its support forums to add a personalized start page where users can collate their questions and track potential answers.
In a post to the Apple Discussions support forums last week, Apple spelled out the changes it plans to make when it launches Apple Support Communities.
Among them, said Apple, will be a personalized start page dubbed "Your View" that lets users follow specific support groups, monitor answers to their questions, and display the posts to which they've responded.
Also on the slate for Support Communities is a reputation system that allows people to recognize helpful answers by increasing the status of the user who posted the solution. It's not clear how the reputation system will be different, if at all, from the current tools in Apple Discussions that let users vote on answers.
Apple did not set a timeline for the change, saying Saturday in another post that it would take place "very soon."
The Cupertino, Calif., company isn't the first major vendor to refresh user-to-user consumer support.
Microsoft ditched the long-running support newsgroups last year for what it calls "Microsoft Answers," which features some of the same tools as Apple plans to add, including a personalized support page and a reputation system where points are assigned for replying or answering questions.
Windows 7 also includes support tools Mac OS X lacks, including "Action Center," which offers automated troubleshooters for common problems.
Apple Discussions can be found on the company's site, where presumably the new Support Communities will appear in the near future.
