What Happens Next?

Good evening, everyone. Bryant and Stan here on behalf of winJade and its staff.

It’s been six years of absolute fun, but over the next few weeks, we’re going to be re-evaluating the purpose of winJade before deciding whether or not to fold the community or repurpose it. Put simply, times have changed, both in the world of Windows and amongst many of those involved with the site. To give some perspective, a quick run-through of the history of AeroXperience/winJade may prove worthwhile.

When Victor and Stan started AeroXperience back in 2004, it was built as a portal for users to collaborate as they dug through Microsoft’s latest endeavor, namely Windows Code Name “Longhorn.” This community was known for breaking some of the biggest bits of news, such as the discovery of DWM within the public builds and the first use of features (such as WinFS and Avalon) later destined to either thrive or falter. AeroXperience became a haven for people looking to sift through the code and find whatever they could.

As time passed and Longhorn inevitably reached fruition (despite Microsoft’s setbacks), something new was needed. Other than a main blog, which Bryant spearheaded with posts and videos in an effort to bring unique content to the world of Windows, the community was slowly transformed into a portal for general Windows discussion, not unlike the many other similar sites which existed (and still exist).

During and after this transition of nature, we’ve continued to break stories in the world of Microsoft, be it word about Windows 7 before anyone else, stories such as the ability to selectively disable Internet Explorer, a first for Microsoft, or in-depth analyses such as the nature of the Zune meltdown almost two years ago to the day.

In addition to content, we have had many unique and talented individuals pass through AeroXperience and winJade on their ways towards their current states. Stephen Chapman was known for outputting some of the greatest releases of content the Windows world has ever known, and he now calls his SEO blog at ZDNet home. Rafael Rivera pitched in many times to help the site and to produce content, and he’s now a successful author of at least one critically acclaimed book in addition to running Within Windows, his own personal playground devoted to peering into anything Microsoft puts out. We even had amongst our ranks a now-heavy-hitting iPhone developer, name withheld, who landed us our first Cease and Desist from any corporation, which (surprisingly, given our primary content) came from Apple.

We are proud to say that we’ve worked with all three of them among many others over the history of this fantastic site, and we will forever consider everyone who ever contributed to winJade, be they members, staff, or outside forces such as affiliates, fantastic friends. We are also proud to have produced one of the most enthusiastic communities the Windows world has ever seen, and we are finally most proud that we’ve been able to contribute to an ever-changing climate in the technology industry.

As for winJade itself, we have, in essence, two options:

1. We can fold the site and move our separate ways. Stan will continue to contribute to the C# development community as he always has, and Bryant will likely move his efforts either into studying and discussing user experience or information security, two of his current passions.
2. We can repurpose the site as a development hub for focused, high-potential projects. We would spearhead efforts in this field given Stan’s extensive background in development and Bryant’s will to see an idea he’s had for years finally become reality.

The original purpose of winJade was to become a hub for such focused projects, be they small works designed to enhance everyone’s computing experience to unique applications potentially capable of revolutionizing aspects of how we see the world today.

These are our options. However, in the meantime, Bryant is attending CES next week and will provide one last burst of video to bring to a head all of our efforts here as we re-evaluate where we go from here. Once a decision has been made, an archive of the forums and blog posts will be posted for everyone’s perusal.