Eleven years came and went, and subscriptions giveaway!

[McCordRm]

Wow... I've been coming to Neowin for "research" almost since the beginning- I'm pretty sure

since the second year. I wasn't much on forums back then, so I just lurked. About eight years

ago, I signed up with a Forum name that's hardly worth mentioning, and then created a new

account back in 2006 with the name "NightLord" which I was using at the time on multiple

forums.

The mods here allowed me to change my Username to McCordRM to keep in line with

my new online identity- yay, and thanks! Anyhow, I've been hanging around here so long

that I finally decided to become a subscriber and help keep this place alive.

[Open Minded]

Found Neowin whilst looking for help with my new cable Internet install. I decided to stay!

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

Honestly I can't even remember how I found Neowin, but I remember lurking in the beginning for the XP/Longhorn stories. In 2005 I registered so that I could comment on the news stories, and it wasn't until a year later that I started posting on the forums. To date I still don't post very often (perhaps once a day), but it's definitely my favourite online community. I've made friends (and enemies) in my time here, and although some of my views may not be universally acceptable, I've always felt welcome here.

Thanks for a great 6 years Neowin, and happy birthday!

[threesixtyflip]

I think I remember joining after getting a link from Mess.be, probably something to do with MSN Messenger no doubt. I was a 15 year old about to do my GCSEs and now I'm 21 adult, and still I'm checking on here all the time for the latest bits and pieces.

[Jimmy0]

I can honestly not remember how I stumbled across Neowin, I am just glad I did! Whilst I may not always be a regular poster, I do still read the forums on a daily basis.

[FairyCake17]

I first found about Neowin from my brother. He always visits this site so one day, I decided to make an account. I haven't been active but I plan on changing that. It looks like the community here is pretty nice. :)

I would love to take part in this draw and I wish everyone good luck.

[Wannes]

w00t!

Happy birthday Neowin. I've been here for ages so it seems.

[vincent]

Happy Birthday Neowin.

[wahoospa]

Learned from the cable companies?

Give the brakes to the newer sign-ups and leave out those that have been here and supported the site for a longer time.

[lamminium]

I was mostly lurker after my initial signup, then became active for a while and now revert back to lurking mode. :p

Happy belated birthday, Neowin!

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

long life to Neowin!

[jafoman]

It's been almost 8 years since I joined Neowin. I really have no idea how I found it. All I know is that I've been checking the main page daily since then. There are only two other tech sites that I check daily (BetaNews and TechSpot). Neowin is a fantastic source of news and community support. Thanks for the past 8 years and congrats on your 11 year anniversary.

[BoredBozirini]

Free subscription? Nice.

[PNWDweller]

Joined quite a few years back (before I had this account), and I think at the time, I was looking for windows tweaks and stuff. Don't quite remember, but did find it through another site. I used to frequent msfn.org a lot and then migrated over here. When I came back to here, I didn't remember my old account name or whatnot so I turned around and created the one I have now and never looked back!

I have found Neowin to be a trusted companion when looking for tech information and support. I have even found the Mac support to be far superior to what you can find elsewhere even Apple! (They just seem to have your average non-power users on their forums).

I still recommend Neowin to my friends who are looking for a great community to join and I even use it as an example of just how large and successful a forum can be without many issues. I point out the way the forums are moderated and staffed which proves also that things can be done right. :) This usually goes out to my clients or people I am helping with their forums.

Congrats on 11 years strong! Not many sites around the web can proudly wear that honor so proudly!

[Scorpus Veteran]

Hello everyone!

Neobond just asked me to randomly draw the giveaway, so I have done so. Everyone who has won is listed here https://www.neowin.net/news/neowins-11th-birthday-giveaway-winners-new-direction-inbound and will be receiving their free Tier 2 subscription shortly.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck around to make the community at Neowin awesome, and thanks also to all the newcomers who help expand the reaches of our community.

Enjoy

[Gaffney]

Wow, I actually won something. Happy Birthday Neowin :)

[.Markus]

Cheers Guv'nor, was planning to upgrade my account sometime next month anyways but now it won't be needed anymore! :)

[Jack 0Neill]

Found Neowin because of MSFN

[Kreuger]

Can't believe I missed out :(

[Nightz]

Where'd my subscriber status go? :(

[Slammers]

Count me in! I joined years ago around 02-03 and then didn't have the internet from the age of 17-20, then got it again four years ago and couldn't remember my password so just made this account. I remember fondly getting my first 1000 posts when I was younger , and pretending like it was some kind of great achievement (lol!).

[Scorbing]

I've been so tied up in the upgrade, that could have gone smoother in my opinion, that I completely missed making a post for October 1st which marked eleven years of Neowin!

We started our upgrade on Sunday 25th of September, and the forums were mostly offline for the two days that followed. And after that, as you may know, many basic forum features didn't work properly, it has literally taken us this long up until this week to sort out those issues, and we still have a list of things that need doing (like syncing main page avatars with the forum ones, among others).

Anyway, what has happened in the last year then?

Tom Warren, who had been here almost from the start went off to launch his own website: winrumors.com on the 25th of October last year, and has done really well since. I always knew he'd do well, and I wish him all the best with that venture, he seems to have made a huge impact already, like he did here at Neowin for the nine years previous.

Tim Kimberl (Timan) stepped down from the developer team, at the end of last month after nine years of making Neowin look great, but he did agree to help us with the upgrade and support Pegasus, which he has done, only yesterday he applied a fix for the main page, so I'm really glad he's still available for those things.

It's not all bad though,

We hired John Callaham back in May to write for Neowin full time, and he has managed to double the amount of content for our main page, starting of with an emphasis on gaming, which is the area he comes from, but that has steadily progressed to tech news and even a couple of editorials that have been very good to read.

The feedback from that decision has been mostly positive, so I feel we're moving in the right direction on that front

And last but not least, our staff team.

In all the years of doing Neowin, I have had to deal mostly with volunteer staff, but never has there been a time quite like the last year that I really feel I'm dealing more and more with professionals, so kudos to the whole staff team for that and making my life bearable!

I say this every year, but we wouldn't be where we are today if not for the support of our members and staff, so give yourselves a big pat on the back, you deserve it, and I can only hope the same level of support continues well into the 2010's and beyond.

Now for a giveaway

Ten Tier 2 subscriptions are up for grabs, these are for new members that have registered here on Neowin after October 1st 2011.

To qualify:

• You must have more than ten posts, that are on topic and helpful (by Oct 23rd when the draw is made)
  
• You must enter your intent to take part in the draw in this topic
  

And also another ten Tier 2 subscriptions for current members who joined before October 1st 2011.

There will be a random draw of ten people who replied to this topic with their own memories of their time here, or how you found Neowin for example, everyone can participate, current subscribers (if drawn) will have their subscription upgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and extended for another year, members will get a year Tier 2, which is ad free and adds a "special" forum among other enhancements for your experience here.

The draw will be made on Sunday October 23rd, and winners announced here.

Thanks again everyone, on behalf of the whole team we appreciate it.

Been here since the beginning. As a matter of fact, I joined Neowin 1 year and 2 months after it launched. Seems like yesterday to me. Can't believe I have been here for so long.

[Wannes]

Been here since the beginning. As a matter of fact, I joined Neowin 1 year and 2 months after it launched. Seems like yesterday to me. Can't believe I have been here for so long.

It's amazing how time flies!

[SVG Veteran]

I've joined 3 times since 2004 ever since I got the XP Neowin theme from some Windows theming site :p

[vip]

woo pick me pick me! :D <3 neowin, sure do miss some of the old guys though, Blaise, Dazzla, ChaNinja. Sure miss the old theming community Neowin and Windows used to have!!