You can’t spend too much time in the Windows Media Center Community without learning about and coming to love The Green Button. The Green Button is perhaps the largest and most active forum site for the Windows Media Center community and has been the go-to place to learn about WMC add-ins, get technical advice, and express one’s opinions about Windows Media Center.
As it turns out, the community is not alone in their love for The Green Button as Daniel Sterling, the administrator at TGB, has announced in the forums that TGB has been purchased by Microsoft.
Daniel is promising a few changes will come as a result. The most obvious change will be the elimination of ads, at least for the time being. The ads on TGB were never that intrusive, but I’m sure the community will not miss them either. There are cosmetic changes planned as well as unannounced functionality additions. The site will also be physically moving to the Microsoft data centers where it will be able to receive the love, attention, and back-end support necessary to enhance the community infrastructure.
Daniel is also promising that the free flow of ideas and opinions will not be restricted under Microsoft’s ownership. While immediate reaction on the TGB forums to the news of the Microsoft acquisition has been understandably apprehensive, there is reason to be optimistic. Microsoft has a long history of running community and technical forums for specific products as a means of engaging target markets, expanding mind share, and collecting product feedback.
From everyone at We Got Served, congratulations to Daniel and the Media Center team at Microsoft on their acquisition – we look forward to seeing how TGB will evolve, and its continued success.
