Is Apple retooling its discussion lists?

Apple Discussions is down for "system maintenance" now. You can read, but not post to the forums. We've heard that this is in preparation for Apple's release on Sunday November 13 of a retooled Discussions with some new features. The upgraded system will have a new URL, http://discussions.apple.com, and will offer:

• RSS feeds.
• An improved search engine that allows searching for numbers and proximity searches.
• A WYSIWG post editor.
• Subscription changes, including the ability to subscribe to a particular user's posts and new weekly subscription emails.
• Relative time zone display, allowing you to see posts marked with your local time.
• Question and Answer labeling, so you can mark your posts as questions and later mark them as answered, letting readers know which threads contain unanswered questions. 

The upgrades sound good, but they have some downsides too:

• Subcriptions won't transfer to the new system, so you'll have to reselect them in the new system.
• User aliases won't be changeable, and existing user aliases that are not between 2 and 30 characters will not transfer to the new system. New users will be prompted for an alias, but once you pick one, you're stuck with it.
• There won't be any bookmarks in the new system.
• You won't be able to upload avatars to the new system.

The new system is expected to be online tomorrow afternoon. Let us know how you like it.