missmymexi, I'm with you. I actually stopped following the thread since a few weeks ago. I still check it occasionally, but I felt comfortable with what you're mentioning.
I'm from May, and actually the first May applicant that got approved in that thread. Honestly, we didn't expect it till the end of August, and even though my husband and I are living in opposite sides of the globe, we are trying to keep positive and focus on maintaining our long distance stuff, which believe me with 11 hours time difference it's quite challenging. So, we still have the bulk of the visa process in front of us, and my husband and I try not to focus on the visa related stuff and get on with our lives till the processing is finished and he gets his visa. We don't want the time waiting for the visa to be a time wasted. We really want to use the time to contribute positively to our life plans.
As a May applicant, I didn't feel comfortable to post in May thread after we got approved, since it was all about how horrible it is etc etc. I have to mention that I ended up with a couple of negatives on my profile for some reason on that week. Honestly, I didn't understand the reason!
I feel for everyone who has been waiting without even one single piece acknowledgement that CIC has their file, and I do hope that the speed up will lead to less waiting time for everybody.
Thank you again missmymexi, for bringing up the subject. It feels as if something was lifted off my shoulders.
Best of luck to you, and to all of us. I wish all of us a smooth and speedy process!