PC Today feature about Neowin

[Daniel F. Administrators]

Neowin.net

An Online Resource For Tech-Related News & Info

You have probably heard the story: A couple of young computer whiz kids, sitting at home one day, decide to form a company. A few years later, the company becomes a major player in its field. Sound familiar? If so, prepare to be surprised. We?re not talking about America Online, Yahoo!, Microsoft, or any of several major corporations that technology?s wunderkinds founded. We?re talking about Neowin.net, a technology news and information Web site that may soon be as well known as any of the names listed above.

Founded in 2001, Neowin.net is currently the largest Windows tech site (according to Daniel Fleshbourne, Neowin.net?s administrator). It is an excellent resource for users at all levels, from developers to PC neophytes. Featuring a broad array of topics, from games to Internet security, Neowin.net offers the latest technology news, links to other tech sites and downloads, and hundreds of discussion forums where registered members can share ideas and advice. If you have not yet discovered Neowin.net, come along now and explore its vast riches. (To skip the scoop and go straight to hints on using Neowin.net, jump to the ?Get Around Neowin.net?From The Beginningeginning

Neowin.net began inauspiciously as the brainchild of Marcel Klum (aka Redmak) and Steven Hatherway (Neobond). Klum says the project began on a whim but almost immediately became a serious project. ?Basically, we were bored and [we] both wanted to do something on the Internet,? says Klum. ?So we sat at [Neobond?s] house and decided to make a Web site with all sorts of tech-related news and info. We came up We came up with the tech idea and were very serious from that moment."

The name Neowin was easy, Klum notes: Neo for new (and in deference to Neobond's nickname) and win for Windows. To host the site, they subscribed to a site-hosting plan for $7.99 a month. (They are now self-hosted on a 4GHz server.) The site's orientation came naturally, as well. At the time the pair were formulating their grand plan, Microsoft was releasing its Windows XP betas. Klum and Neobond recognized the need for a WinXP beta and customization site where testers and developers could garner news about the product and bounce ideas off one another.

Fleshbourne, who joined Neowin in the early days as a newsposter, says "Originally, Neowin was for computer enthusiasts who wanted the nod to what was happening inside Microsoft-betas in our case." He says the site quickly attracted a large contingent of the skinning community, as well. (Skins are visual overlays you apply to change the appearance of a program.)

For a time Neowin.net was a very active skinning site, Fleshbourne says, with "many of the best skins and skinners (skin developers)." Currently, skinning still has its place, but the site's scope has broadened to encompass nearly every aspect of computing. "We have become mainstream," Fleshbourne says, "and attract the full range of computer users." He notes that the current user base consists of customizers, hard-core techies, and average users, with average users being the largest contingent.

Neowin.net boasts approximately 35,000 registered members, who have posted more than 1 million comments in Neowin.net forums. That impressive figure belies Neowin.net's popularity, however. Fleshbourne, who spends 12 to 15 hours a day working the site, says Neowin.net logs more than 100 million monthly hits and has recorded as many as 6 million hi

Inside Neowin.netnside Neowin.net

To reflect its diverse user base, Neowin.net takes an equally broad approach. The site consists of two major components, news and forums, along with an array of less-prominent but helpful omponents such as polls, links to downloads and other tech sites, and classified ads for used computers. The site also retains a small archive of technology articles on diverse topics ranging from Microsoft Windows history to a review of the Nokia 7650.

Visitors can view information on the site; however, they cannot contribute. If you become a registered member of the Neowin.net site, you can participate in discussions and submit articles and other items for consideration. Additionally, registered users can access numerous tools that enhance their experience. (More about this in the "Get Around Neowin.net" sidebar.)

Neowin.net's current interface is well organized, but its length means that many features are outside the initial screen display. All the news that fits. The news component of Neowin.net is divided into three categories: Main News, Gamers News, and Software News. Site visitors and members can select a category to view the most recent dozen or so related news items, or they can explore the news section in Headline View (one-line summaries of stories). The site displays the headlines only of the past week's stories, but the inquisitive can go through previous stories, week by week, as far back as August 2001. (A few weeks in August 2003 were ost to a hard drive erasure and are missing.)

Neowin (the company) garners its news from a variety of sources, ncluding Microsoft, third-party developers, news services, staff (newsposters), and members (contributors). For reference, Neowin provides each news item's supplier (newsposter or contributor), post dates, and source (with a link to the full story, if available). Fleshbourne says the Neowin staff authenticates all news items before they post the information to the site, and contributors must provide active Web links to authenticate submitted items. The exception to this rule is with news that Neowin receives and authenticates internally, in which case the source will be "in-house."

Members can submit news items to www.neowin.net/submitnews.php and they are encouraged to comment on those items. The first comment starts an ongoing discussion thread that other members can join.

Classical forum. Although the news section of Neowin.net may be the most visible section on the home page, the real meat of the site is its forums page. Forums are segmented into seven categories: The General Stuff, Customizing Windows, Operating Systems Support, Macintosh, Help & Discussion Center, Designing & programming, and Site Related Discussion.

Each category contains numerous forums (ranging from Gamers Hangout in The General Stuff to Cursors, Icons & Wallpapers and Customization & Skinning Section in Customizing Windows). Each forum is further divided into highly specialized sub-forums such as Console Gamer or PC Gamer (in the Gamers Hangout forum). These forums and subforums cover a lot of territory, including gaming, drivers, PDAs, Web design, and myriad other topics.

Members are invited to exchange comments about news articles. The hottest topics, based on the number of posts, are the General Discussion and Customizing Windows XP forums. However, Fleshbourne says that one of Neowin.net's most appreciated forums is the Help & Discussion Center, which users have applauded for its fast response times.

Neowin's forum rules are standard fare (no spam, pornography, racist jokes, and so on). The site's moderators are also firm about staying on topic; if a poster wishes to make an off-topic comment, he is expected to take that comment to the GeneralAn Eye On The Futureye On The Future

Both Fleshbourne and Klum say their primary goal, moving forward, is to enhance the user experience; perhaps becoming more tightly integrated with Microsoft in the process. "We want to give our members better access to Microsoft through chat sessions, information, and software patches," says Fleshbourne. He also says that plans for the next version (Neowin V4) include more features and customization options. Fleshbourne was also quick to assert that advertisers currently support the site and there is no plan to levy subscription fees.

Will Neowin.net ever become another Yahoo!, with an IPO (initial public offering) and a big corporate headquarters? When we asked Fleshbourne this question, he couldn't say, but his response stemmed more from surprise than reticence. "Hmm, I've never thought about that," he says. "We have just started to look at how Neowin is managed, whether we need to register the company, hire a business advisor; things like that. Right now, our emphasis

is on growing and adding value to the site for our members, which is exactly

where I think the focuGet Around Neowin.netround Neowin.net

Neowin.net is an easy-to-navigate site, but some of its best features are not immediately evident. The information and suggestions here will help you get the most from your time at Neowin.net. You must be logged in as a registered user for some of tFirst Glance

First Glance

When you land at Neowin.net, you will see a Windows XP-style Web page. At the bottom left is the news area (open by default to Main News). At the top left, below the Neowin logo, is a recap of Recent Forum Posts. In the center are recent announcements from Neowin. At the top you'll find links to the news areas: Software News and Gamers News. At the far right in a vertical pane is the Main Menu. This menu contains a variety of links. Let's take a look at each major secMain news section. n news section.

The news section extends below the average monitor screen; scroll down to view the entire section. In the header at the top of each story, you'll find the item's provider and post date, as well as a comment count. To view comments (or post them if you are logged in), click the comment counter or the Comments button on the right side of the header. If you scroll to the bottom of the news item, you'll find links to its source and to the full story (if available). Scroll to the bottom to view the archive, which is a one-line listing of the past doTop Tip:es.

Top Tip: To scan more stories, look on the right side in the Main Menu and click Headline View. Headline View organizes an entire week's archives by date rather than by category, so you will see all three categories of news. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Previous 7 Days link to move back, one week at a time, thNews summary/login pane. ary/login pane.

This dynamic pane features links to whichever two categories you are currently not viewing, along with a one-line summary of the five most recent headlines in each. To switch news categories, click one of the links (such as Recent Software News or Recent Gamers News) at the top of the pane.

This pane also contains the login and registration links. Neowin 's privacy policy states that it does not provide member information to third parties. Should the policy change, Neowin states that it will not provide any information without your express consent. Registration requires only a nickname and an email address. If you think you will use Neowin.net, yoTop Tip: r.

Top Tip: If you want to join Neowin, register before moving into other areas of the site. If you have already joined Neowin, log in before continuing. Once you log in, more options areRecent Forum Posts. nt Forum Posts.

This section offers a one-line summary of the past 10 forum posts. Click a summary line to move directly to the related forum or click Forum (the second word in Recent Forum Posts) to enter the Forums area. You can also click the Enter The Forums link in the Main Menu.

The Forums section uses a chart layout to organize the categories, forums, and subforums mentioned earlier. The initial display shows categories and forums, with a few representative subforums listed under each forum heading. In this view, members see overall forum statistics: the number of threads, posts, and location/date of the last post in the forum. Click any forum group (General Discussion, for example), and Neowin.net will update your view to display the subforums and an even broader array of statistics that relate to the subforum and any topics it

includes.

To start a new topic, click any of the forum categories and click the New Topic button at the top right of the chart. (If you do not see this button, you cannot start a new topic in that particular forum.) To view the posts in an existing topic, click any topic title. Once you enter a posting area, you can select one of six button or link options to email, print, or track the topic and its posts (tracking provides email updates on the topic). You can also reply to the topic (click Add Reply or Quote) or you can report an objectionable poTop Tip:t).

Top Tip: To sort topics by criteria including last post, topic starter (member name), number of replies and more, you need to scroll to the bottom of the page. You can view topics in ascending or descending chronological order, search topics for specific keywords, or use a drop-down menu to jump to another forum category. Explore the My Assistant option (the link is just below the news summary/login pane). This feature lets you search and organize topics and posts. If you become confused while in Forum view, click Forum Help in the top right of your display to acceMain menu.

Main menu.

The Neowin.net Main Menu is your gateway to a number of features, including posted articles (Articles), driver and software downloads (Files Section), and Web sites popular with members (Weblinks and Get Listed). Like the news section, Main Menu extends below the standard page view, so you'll need to scroll down the page to review all the options. These options include dozens of helpful links to top Web sites, hot downloads, and Microsoft technical inTop Tip:es.

Top Tip: Be sure to explore the View Control Panel link, which transports you to the My Controls feature. This feature lets you change your account settings, store snippets of frequently used text, send and archive messages or track messages you send to other members, view topics and forums to which you have subBy Jennifer FarwellJennifer Farwell

PC Today - Windows Boot Camp

Edited November 11, 2003 by Voodoo

[-=SD=-]

Awesome, congrats guys :)

Interesting logo on that page... maybe a soon to be change to the neowin logo???

[kaptain chump]

cool beans!

[giga Veteran]

i like the current logo..heh..

nice

[Veedems Veteran]

very cool. a shame you have to pay to read the rest.

[Steven]

:( where's the rest of the article...

Anyway. Congrats guys well done. :D

[Redestium]

Nice work. (Y) The effort is appreciated.

[Daniel F. Administrators]

updated to include full atricle

[Daniel F. Administrators]

Awesome, congrats guys :)

Interesting logo on that page...  maybe a soon to be change to the neowin logo???

its nice but its not ours (AFAIK) but whoever made it well done

[Redmondian]

Cool bananas! (Y) Congratulations, from a proud Neowinian! :D

[DELTA75329]

They just figured this out NOW? I knew this back when I signed up!

:D

[DigitalFreedom]

lol, it will be in the magazine in jan :D panges 23-25, don't miss out, your name might be in it :D

[TheDogsBed]

Really great work guys. I'm just a newcomer in relative terms but I have to say it's a well run forum. Best I've come across in a long time. Seems to me you deserve all that lavish credit.

[aem4162]

excellent (Y)

congratulations, neowin

i like the logo we have

[bennett]

congrats neowin

[CrimsonBlur]

Wow, that's awesome! Congrats to Neobond and Redmak! (weird 3D logo though, I like the REAL logo more, heh)

[KC]

Rock on, and once again if it was for the staff; Admin, Mods, Newsposters I really don't think this site would ever be what it is. We have the best team in the world.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: