I started using CI just after 1.7.2 was officially released.
I coded for Wodepress, Joomla, and core php before that. After a while i started getting frustrated with those dev patterns and decided it was time to move into a framework. I tried several frameworks before settling on CI, like: Zend, Symphony, CakePHP, and a couple others. I did not like working with those frameworks. Then i found CI and it was so easy to work with that i never looked back.
OFC, over time i continued looking at other frameworks out of curiosity but nothing i found caught my fancy. So here i am, a few years later and still working with CI.
"I reject your reality and substitute my own" - Adam Savage, M5 Inc.