Just caught up with this. Like they say "one persons trash is another persons treasure" well I'd not put it quite that way with software, but its similar concept. Abandonware/BETAs and other stuff on the FTP is stuff you won't likely find in many other places, people want it because its rare or they have used the final product and want to see how it worked in Alpha/Beta or build versions (such as MS Windows or early game betas), not everyone is going to want everything, but there is always some who would like to have the old software because its rare or old or changed before its final etc...



I like this idea, I have often seen people sign up just to get enough posts to download from the FTP without contributing anything useful really. I joined because I wanted to find out about the history of BETAs and some people seemed knowledgeable, not just to download from the FTP (which I have not done much) I like to contribute to where I can.



Totally agree, most if not nearly all forums have off topic sections within them, you can't just get rid of them, suppose if that is how it is, you could limit how much a person is allowed to post in offtopic sections per day or something, to make sure we don't get most posting there and nowhere else. Why join up to a forum about Beta stuff and computers if you mostly going to post or reply to offtopic content?

What we also need is somehow, a way of stopping the multiple posts on the same subject that often appear. Not sure how you'd do it, but it often come up about OSes, windows 8 being a good one for this.



That would be a better solution IMO, at the moment some abandonware can be got elsewhere, much as you said, you can't, but for some you can, don't know how long that will be before you can't get some that you can get now elsewhere (hope that made sense). A separate server would be useful, free up one for Operating System BETAs/Alphas/builds etc... and other for abandonware and BETA software.

Overall I like BA for an information site where you can share and get information on BETA OSes or abandonware etc... but I think there should be places on here were you can find information on the software/Operating Systems (I mean the mainstream ones, not abandonware etc..) At the moment its just really a forum and a place to download stuf if you think about it. What I mean, is:

Like the Microsoft Collection Book, use it for Microsoft based OSes, have a section for information on main Microsot/Apple etc... programs and how they have changed over the years (like MSN Messenger/Windows Live or MS Office etc... things that people use a lot and there are BETA versions out there about) have screenshots and information about the different versions (like the collection book has) and if there are downloads on FTP on that particular version of the software as well.

You don't really need a section to explain abandonware, maybe a few programs that were/are very popular such as winzip/winamp/winrar etc...

@mrpijey sure quality is more important that quantity, but what I understand under off-topic (judging by the site's primary interest) is pretty much everything that's not abandonware or beta related, which would to my knowledge include e.g. this, this and this. Unless I missunderstood you, in which case I apologize.

So anyway...

Beta material does occasionally pop up in the Trading Forum and the Software/Application/Game forum can be used to discuss beta or abandonware material, so I don't see why we'd have to get rid of them.

Oh... Never thought of that.

I agree about the betas, but I think you should keep the abandonware. I sometimes need it, if my original version of that program breaks, or I just want to see what it's about.

Well, thing is, if some goes then all goes. If we would decide to get rid of the abandonware then all of it would go, including the old Windows 1.x stuff, MS-DOS etc, stuff that people appreciate on the site, and stuff that has been here since the OSBA times. Also the MSDN stuff would go, and those include a lot of beta resources as well.

But that will not happen. Abandonware will stay on BA and will actually be expanded on. Since there's a lot more abandonware than betas there will be a time when the abandonware collection will be much larger than the beta one. But BA is a great platform for archiving those as well, and I don't see a problem of BA becoming an abdonware site. In many ways betas are tied to abandonware as well since old betas turned into old finished products so members getting into old stuff will also have the chance to try out the finished product. If OSBA and early BA hadn't preserved those old MS-DOS and Windows versions then we would probably never had considered carrying abandonware at all.

Drive space will of course always be an issue so some restraint on the amount of abandonware will always have to be applied, until now I've tried to cut back on the full CD abandonware and only focus on the older floppy ones, but eventually we have to cover the CD stuff as well. Now that we again have a dual-server system on BA I might very well relax those restraints a bit, but I will always be cautious since we also have to consider the age of the abandonware and if it's still in circulation. Something we don't need to worry about when it comes to betas.

And for those of you that don't like abandonware: Stick to the betas. BA will never stop with betas regardless of what happens betas will always stay.

I pretty much agree with everything mrpijey said. This site has been drifting away from its main topic for quite a long time now. An off-topic section isn't a problem but I think there should be only one off-topic section. This forum at this moment has way too many of them in my opinion. And sure you might drive out a considerable amount of userbase but on the other hand, you might attract a considerable amount of userbase that actually cares about Beta's.

I fully agree with you here mrpijey, BetaArchive does need some changes. Like what people have said, it's people who are too lazy to use Google to find out an issue. I also think it's time people started remaining topical and about time that we need to tell people to post properly or leave.
However, I don't completely agree on the Breakfast Club theory. Sure, I'm against offtopic topics, but it is nice to have a discussion topic on a forum (and not 50 million). For example, a few other forums I'm on have a "Longest Thread Ever" sort of thread, where people can communicate with one another and whatnot. However, the rest of the forum is strictly topical, if you see what I mean. So yes, I think we should have a similar topic and stop people taking topics to a general chit chat in the pub.
I feel the abandonware should stay. I myself have contributed a few pieces and I like to use some of it for various purposes.
All in all, I think 90% of the userbase needs a wake up call on what BetaArchive is about.

Well, I certainly hope that my coming Windows 8 Review will help change this. I certainly believe that not only will it help to improve the direction of BetaArchive's focus, but also that it could easily improve the reputation of our community, since if it's associated with a major Windows 8 review, then obviously, people of whom are in the know are going to look up to the place with great respect.

Also, once I finally release my Windows 8 Review here, then also to note is the discussion of which will be taking place in reply to it. As such, I certainly believe that it will greatly help to increase actual beta-related (and operating system-related in general) discussion here.

not to belittle you and your efforts, but it takes more than a review of a Windows beta to get people to pay attention and follow the rules.
we need users to understand the purpose of this site is primarily one about beta and abandonware discussion. We need an active community effort to get the community back on that track, along with their support as the site changes.

I didn't say that it will exclusively solve the problem, I just said that it would be part of it.

Yes, there is more to getting such a community as this back on track than just a review of an upcoming product (in this case, Windows 8/Windows Server 8). However, it seems that mrpijey is already trying to solve the rest of this issue.

Certainly, I'll be making more contributions in the future, however, that will have to wait until I have the time.

WinPC's contribution will help, as will anyones contribution to add information and new features on BA. There's a lot that can be done to better a reputation or to worsen it, but we don't sit around and measure it and compare to other sites. BetaArchive is BetaArchive and everyone here should do their best to make it better. And the less we sit and compare the better we're off as an independent site with our own personality.

I don't see that BA is a community that needs to "get back on track", we're definately not off it. What we can do however is to make it better. Remember, all of us are here out of interest and as a hobby. None of us get paid for any of this and none of us do this 24/7. And I think we've managed quite well so far, far better than most other sites considering past history.

Any help is appreciated, any contribution will be accepted and used in some way to better this site. So thanks WinPC and we'll look forward to your reivew.