In what cases do I see a more elaborate off-topic close reason?

Question

In some cases, I see a newly extended off-topic post notice:

closed as off-topic by OneUser, TwoUsers, ThreeUsers, FourUsers, FiveUsers

This question appears to be off-topic for this site. While what's on- and off-topic is not always intuitive, you can learn more about it by reading the help center. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:

• "This question is not about computer hardware or software, within the scope defined in the help center." - OneUser, TwoUsers, ThreeUsers, FourUsers, FiveUsers

If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit your question or leave a comment.

However, in others, I see the original one since the closing overhaul:

closed as off-topic by OneUser, TwoUsers, ThreeUsers, FourUsers, FiveUsers

This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:

• "This question is not about computer hardware or software, within the scope defined in the help center." - OneUser, TwoUsers, ThreeUsers, FourUsers, FiveUsers

If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit your question or leave a comment.

In what cases is each one used?

Answer 1

You see the more elaborate message when looking at your own questions. The intent here is to provide a little bit more context for the person who asked the question, in hope that it might help them to be more receptive to the specific off-topic reason that follows. There was some concern when the system was being designed that folks would fail to understand what "off-topic" meant, so this additional passage attempts to explain it.

Answer 2

I see different reasons from what you mention

Surface display screen stops working after leaving cover on for a long time has

This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:

• "Questions about bugs in pre-release/beta software or prototype hardware are off-topic. Bugs in pre-release products are common and even expected, and are often fixed before the final version is released — at which point the question becomes obsolete. Consider reporting these types of problems directly to the product manufacturer." –

while

What Windows should I upgrade to on our small office network now that Windows XP has reached the end of its supported lifecycle? has

This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:

• "Questions seeking product, service, or learning material recommendations are off-topic because they become outdated quickly and attract opinion-based answers. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve. Share your research. Here are a few suggestions on how to properly ask this type of question

both were closed with different off-topic reasons

and hence the different explanations were shown. The reason for "bugs in pre-release/beta software or prototype hardware" were withdrawn because we have a limited number of reason slots and this wasn't being used.

If the last reason is shown, then you'll get a generic "This question appears to be off-topic" reason, with the actual reason mentioned in the comment