Term of the Week - "Beta"

[Brad Jones]

I posted an article on Webdeveloper.Earthweb.com about what "beta" means. The article is at:
http://webdeveloper.earthweb.com/webjs/article/0,,12721_934901,00.html

This message thread is for discussion on this article and its topic.

Do you agree with me? Disagree? Thied">'m crazy? I can take it. Dare to voice your opinion!

[Manish Malik]

In my opinion, the article needed 1 more thing: explicit differentiation between alpha and beta copies of a software/program.

My view in short:
alpha: In-House testing. You give it to your fellow developers, peers, etc. The program may not even be complete.

beta: Public testing - may be selective in choosing the target public. The program is distributed as a complete product - with an added disclaimer: "This is a beta version....I don't guarantee what it does!" ;-)

Overall, good step - most of my friends keep on asking these questions again and again.


Manish
http://www.manishmalik.com