The other day I wrote about my impending unwanted switch back to XP Professional because of the death of the Vista RC2 build I have been running on my machine and I thought that was the end of it. Well the next morning when I brought my email client to the foreground to see what that flashing envelope icon in the system tray held for me I was surprised and touched beyond words. I don’t know who was behind it but the members of the WinExtra Community Forums had gotten together and driven up my PayPal account to a level that I would be able to turn that RC2 version of Vista into a fully registered version.

So while I would to like to publicly thanks all that parted with their hard earned money to to this I want to also take a moment to tell you about our community. Sure web forums may not be as fashionable in the day of Web 2.0 blogs and co-presence hoopla but these new methods don’t hold a candle to the heart and soul that can develop within a true community forums; or the old Web 1.0 style NNTP newsgroups.

Our family have seen members get married; even going around the world to do so. Some have married other members and stayed with the forums while others have married and gone on with their new lives just occasionally dropping by to say hi. We have seen grandchildren born and we have had friends die leaving a hole in the collective heart of our community. Through it all though our community has helped countless people with computer or software problems - for no other reason than that is what they love to do. Some members have been known to travel many miles just to help an elderly person having problems or give of their time for those less fortunate to be able to be a part of out technological world.

As something that I started six or seven years ago as a fallback set of NNTP newsgroups just incase our original meeting place disappeared; which it did finally do, has developed over the years into a home on the web for many folks that count both the forums and their fellow members as an integral part of their daily lives. It may not be the biggest web forums on the web but I would pit the love and caring found within it for fellow members against any other forums or even against any of the new fangled conversation Web 2.0 type media.

It may sound maudlin and hookie but I know that if I were to be gone tomorrow I would have at least done one good thing in this life and that is being the starting point for a community of friends that will hopefully grow and live long past my time here. Not many people can say that.

This is my community - my friends.