IeXbeta

From IeXwiki

Introduction

Website devoted mainly to the news of Microsoft beta software, also housing a forum of vast topics.

The History of ieXbeta

• The ieXbeta web site was established on January 31, 2001, and the actual board was first installed on April 1, 2001.
• ieXbeta switched from Ikonboard to IPB in 2002, and shortly after the conversion the DB was lost and crashed. All of the sites topics, threads, news, etc were lost.
• The crash occurred on 28 August 2002 and the board came back on 3 September 2002. James was hosting the site on his behalf, when suddenly his hosting contract was cancelled.
• The board crash restarted the site, and the site began to expand and invite more members into the community. That night when the board was first brought back, lots of ieXbeta folk visited and posted while James was trying to reconfig all of the settings that were lost. Posts began sprouting and a race to become the top poster was on its way.
• Law suits against ieXbeta? Some claim a Stardock dispute arose - According to DJP , ieX was hosting a beta version of WindowsBlinds 3.0 which did not have a 30 day trial, thus making it a normal version.
• Several skin changes over the years.
• A board logo contest, one I remember when Something Corporate won. A Neowin look-alike logo was also made, a few good laughs there.
• A crew walkout involving fretster, Tazwolff, and others.
• Download sections once were available on ieXbeta, but concern that the site would turn into Warez forced the closing of the d/l pages.
• A member group for respected members was the center of attention when users who were not worthy enough to be part of the group wanted in.
• A slew of bannings occurred after my first account, jpell7, was banned. This created some controversy. However, only a few accounts were given back.
• Money has always been tight with ieXbeta, and at one point a new server was needed. Money was collected from many members and it was able to pay for the needs. A sponsor group was created, and a special site for sponsors was also set up. Donations soon increased.
• TamzBurdz had to be cleaned up to make it somewhat PG13... hey it's a beta site, not cheap porn!
• A dispute between European and American mods came about in the days before the Iraqi war, but when the dust settled everyone was friends again.
• ex-Dutch mods IceCold and Beast started a huge spam war against ieXbeta which gave the mods and admins a pretty hard time.
• The Hall of F(l)ame was resurrected On July 31, 2004. However, many members thought it was a bad idea and on August 24, 2004 the forum was deleted.
• To combat spam, a Rookies group was created on March 4, 2005 which restricts new users from accessing the Private Message system.
• The experimental ieXwiki was launched on May 19, 2005.
• For a variety of reasons (e.g. continuing content problems, increasing moderation time/work, and returning to our tech site roots), the Babe Lovin' forum was removed on August 4, 2005.
• An Arcade was added on July 27, 2005 for all staff and Sponsors.
• The most users ever online is NOT what's currently recorded, for that number is being periodically reset due to a bug in the new IPB 2.1 software. Sources say it is actually 995 that was achieved & previously recorded on Feb 23 2005, 12:05.

Source: The History of ieXbeta by jpell