Aqua-Soft ForumsAqua-Soft lives!
It's amazing to be writing those two words after all this time. We had no idea when we started up this website years ago that it would make it past the first few months. The Apple legal team had just started rearing it's ugly head, server problems seemed infinite, and nobody really knew where Aqua-Soft was headed. Now, over three years later, the community has grown strong, expanded it's base, and become a cornerstone of the customization scene.
People have come and gone over the years. To the best of my knowledge all of the original 4 founders of Aqua-Soft have left. Some of the 'secondary team' has stayed strong, but even most of them have pursued other interests. Yet that has allowed so many more people (so much more talented people!) to take charge of this community and move it forward. People like Timan, Iceman, Jef and Goku. These, and others, are truely deserving of the credit keeping this community alive.
Special recognition has to go to Jef and Timan here. This couldnt be a complete review of Aqua-Softs past and present without these two guys. Jef has been the heart of Aqua-Soft since days after the idea was spawned. He showed us ideas we didn't think were possible, and expanded our horizons of what this community could actually achieve. Literally the guy was there when the idea was being launched, and its amazing to see him around years later! Timan is the backbone of this place. I dont think many of you know how many nights he's stayed up fixing the forums or adjusting the front page just because of the respect he has for this community. Without either of these guys this place would have been a memory from years gone by.
The changes we've seen in the Aqua Customization scene over the past 3 years have been amazing. The 'ultimate' OSX styled desktop on a WinPC was only a dream in the beginning days of this site. Rough cut jpg's for icons, crude DesktopX docks and system hacks that would make my mother blush. Today we have the latest icons for OSX offered as both Mac and Win downloads on sites like Xicons and Iconfactory (I believe, in some small part, to the seeds planted with this web community), the choice of multi-function docks and themes ported to the PC mere days after release for OSX.
For me it was Kol and Mr.Yamaguchi that made me lose interest in constant customization. They ended my search for 'my perfect desktop'. People so good at their craft that they offered exactly what I had been looking for. They helped me achieve my goals - they gave me the desktop enviroment that I wanted. For me they offered perfection, and I haven't changed my desktop in almost 8 months now. For everyone it's different, and some I know will never be satisfied, but this community gave me what I was looking for. Again, thanks.
It isn't just about these few people I've mentioned; every member of this community breathes life into the customization scene. No matter how small the contribution, every question, every icon, every pixel pushes this community forward. Every desktop in the gallery (wow, who would have dreamed desktops would be so cool a few years ago?) inspires members new and old to keep going, regardless of platform. Yes, Aqua-Soft members have even inspired the Mac community, and in the past year we've seen amazing collaborations.!
I hope 3 years from now I'll be able to drop by and see Aqua-Soft still going, the community doubled or tripled in size, with the latest themes from OSX Badger (or whatever they call it, theres only so many mammals) being released for the publics enjoyment. Keep pushing those pixels. As always, the zombie will be lurking in the shadows, watching, seeing how things are going. I'll pop my head out from time to time...after all, you guys are carrying the torch now.
