Yes, It has been quite a while since the last "State of the Network" update, but there has been so much happening since then that the wait was well worthwhile!

This is the first ever item published using the newly added "shared categories", which means that it will automatically show up in the "ATI Network" category of the forum of every site in the ATI Network.
Previous announcements were mostly posted in Safarri's forum, before which they were posted to a special category on PlexPedia, Before which they were posted to a long list of text on the homepage of the ATI Network :-)
The new shared ATI Network category should become the permanent way for everyone to keep track of updates.

Without further ado, here are the most important recent updates:

• ATIServer:
  
  • GUI Refactoring:
    The core ATIServer "GUI Toolkit" has been greatly enhanced.
    The benefits? Slightly faster page load times, and much prettier and more consistent looking button, lists, toolbars, and forms.  You can see the new styles as you browse, or preview them all at the new GUI Playground
    
    One of the coolest GUI changes are the new "Select" menus, which are now completley js powered and blend in perfectly with the rest of our customized form elements.
    
    
  • Tons of new features:
    Most importantly,  ATIServer now has the capibility to automatically combine and optimize CSS and JS resources server side, which increases page load speed by minimizing http requests.
    
    There have also been tons of other server side enhancements and bugfixes (Such as the numerous improvements to the template "skins" - which enabled the "theme unification" project), but they won't be as notacable to end users.
  
  
• ATI Network:
  
  • Theme Unification:
    Every Site in the Network now uses the same theme! Cooler yet, every site in the network can switch themes on the fly based on your preference in the new "My Settings" menu located on the right side of the Network Toolbar (Which can also dynamically translate your page into different languages).
    Yes, we will miss the 3D blue theme of PlexPedia and the shiny "blobs" of the fun zone, but they will live on in the soon to be added museum :-)
    The ATI Network sites who's looks were completley redone include PlexPedia, the Fun Zone, the Network Home, and AubreyFalconer.com.
    
    
  • New ATI Design Site:
    The ATI Design site has been completley redone (And is the only network member which doesn't use the new theme system). Now includes a super cool reflective 3D project carousel, and awesome backlit carbon fiber elements!
    
    
  • Shared Categories:
    As explained in the introduction above, PlexPedia groups can now share categories! This will be perfect to keep track of announcements - and the newly introduced bug tracker.
    
    
  • Bug Tracker:
    PlexPedia now has a new type of data it tracks - "bugs"! To facilitate bug tracking, PlexPedia also has a new feature for item "Status", which can be controlled by the submitter of the item from a dropdown on the main item page.
  
  
• ATI Hosting: 
  • ATIServer has upgraded to a custom configured Ubuntu Linux VPS, and is currently running inside of Lighttpd. This actually happened over the course of several weeks much earlier in the year, but hasn't been oficially announced yet.
    
    This is accompanied by large performance increases and enhanced capibilities, and will provide us with plenty of room to grow.

More great things to come!

Merry Christmas to all,

-Aubrey