Strange that you didn’t post this on the KGS Forum 
7 Likes
Well I am a go addict and make you sure KGS is not better. I don’t want to go into details but I am a new user in here and haven’t experienced any negative issue but beauty and friendship. No angry admins, no escapers etc. The only bug was my 29k rank in a downloaded SGF of OGS and only made me smile. I played around 500 games on Fox but still here is better for me. It is a heaven of dan range players for me. In the end of the day I am sure OGS will win.
10 Likes
I agree that OGS is better than Fox, Tygem or IGS. But KGS is better for me!!! because it’s simpler. All those features are good and nice, but they also give you more to worry and distraction. I also find the graphics better at KGS, but that’s probably very much subjective. I’d hope WMS came back because I am positive KGS would rule the western go servers in that case. But coulda, woulda shoulda.
There is no colour on KGS! lol
1 Like
I find the KGS CGoban graphics to feel as though they have not been updated since the 90’s and are one of its worst features. Also subjective.
8 Likes
The fun (and pedantic) thing is that despite how KGS’ graphics are so often called '90s-style, the server was actually created in April of 2000.
3 Likes
Meaning it was already outdated even when it was brand new 
Actually my brain associates almost all of the early 00’s as “90’s” haha
7 Likes
I also have the feeling that there is a “long 1990s” period which includes the early 2000s.
I’d be inclined to stretch it at least to the beginning of the Iraq War on March 20, 2003, and perhaps for the whole rest of that year.
A case could be made that it continues even longer, eg. until George W Bush’s second inauguration on January 20th, 2005; or to May 5th, which was the last time that the Labour party won a British election.
I feel those dates take it a bit too far, though.
With a 2003 end-date, for instance, the long 1990s would include those two great “90s–feel anime”, Azumanga Daioh and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (second season). It would just miss the end of Friends in 2004, though.
The hard limit is definitely 2006 and the rise of social media with the commercialisation of the Internet. Although Facebook was founded in 2004 and Youtube in 2005.
4 Likes
Preferences I guess.
I find OGS’ approach of browser-only to be the best.
You can play on any platform with internet access and a graphical interface: Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile phone… Pretty sure someone on this forum could get it to work on a smart fridge.
As a Linux user, I appreciate not having to download some dodgy client from the internet, and make it run using Wine.
EDIT:
To prove my point, even KGS has a web interface now: https://shin.gokgs.com/
As far as I’m aware, all the major Chess servers support web interfaces. Browser technology has evolved since the 90s / early 00s, so you either embrace it, or you slowly die.
If you want to make a successful server, you’ll have to make as easy as possible for people to use it.
8 Likes
The great draw for OGS is that you don’t need a client. You come here, create an account, and play. That’s why I am here, and I have talked to many people who say the same.
10 Likes
What is WMS? William Michael Shakespeare?
4 Likes
I mean… 2000 wasn’t that far away from the 90s. People forget how long ago that was. I mean technically 90s could mean “before the internet gained widespread usage”
We talking ShinKGS or KGS KGS?
I think there are two parts to this though. Who is KGS? The community? Or the people who pay the bills?
I think the former will never want a merge. The latter? Who knows!
1 Like
I’m pretty sure you don’t need wine to run KGS. It’s a Java program “write once, run anywhere (that has a JVM)”
1 Like
True.
I was thinking more about playing on servers like fox. Apologies for the confusion.
Still, I’m not totally confident on the current state of the java program. It looks like it’s been a long time since it was updated. Is it still safe?
1 Like
No idea, but I agree with the assessment that it hasn’t been updated in ages.
EDIT: Looks like last update was in 2014.
Source: CGoban changelog
2 Likes
That’s a long time.
There’s probably a lot of 1dans out there younger than the last version of the KGS client.
1 Like
No offense to any of the KGS aficionados out there, but KGS is whack! When I was new to Go, I was trying to find a server and I kept hearing about KGS from different places so I went to try it out. But I couldn’t even get it to work! It was not obvious that you need to download and install a client (which I wouldn’t do anyway). I couldn’t even see how to sign up for an account. It was literally too difficult to use.
OGS I find very easy to use. It looks great. I just find it a little frustrating that there is only one dev and it’s closed source (backend anyway) so I can’t find out how it works and it’s a bit slow to respond to bug reports, etc. So I also like DGS because it’s open source and has some features that behave differently from OGS in a way that appeals to me (tournaments, ratings, etc.). So OGS and DGS both have their pros and cons.
And this:
What is it!? I wanna know too! Because if it’s some sort of meta-server than can get games from multiple servers (e.g. OGS and DGS), that would be so good because then I only have to check one place, not two 
3 Likes