What is "BETA"???
Monday
I have been wondering for quite while about this beta thing all over.
The definition for Beta as given in wikipedia on the above link is, " A beta version or beta release usually represents the first version of a computer program that implements all features in the initial software requirements specification. It is likely to be unstable but useful for internal demonstrations and previews to select customers, but not yet ready for release. Developers release them to a group of beta testers (sometimes the general public) for a user test. The testers report any bugs that they found and sometimes minor features they would like to see in the final version."
What the releasers get: Less stable product is made available to general public and the releaser doesn't assume any responsibility whatsoever. The creators of these Beta releases make their product available to general public and the technology savvy people test it. Finally they get the bugs reported by the general public free of cost and their own developers are just fixing those bugs.
What the Beta-testers get: Quote me if I am wrong, this all testing is done free of cost by the so called beta testers. They even don't get the final version free of cost. But in turn they are providing full support to the Beta releaser by reporting bugs and the problems with the code or by providing information about the new features which might be included in the final releases. In turn they are just getting free copy of UNSUPPORTED BETA VERSION OF SOFTWARES WITH BUGS AND LESS FEATURES.
Few examples of the Beta releases are : Gmail Beta, Picasa Web-album Beta, Google Earth Beta, Blogger Beta & recent Window Vista Beta 2 and so on and so forth.
There seems no deadlines for these Beta releases to be over.
Now lets consider this Beta thing in other areas. Let's say Car manufacturers come up with Beta cars. They say we have made a car which can fly in the air but if it loses power in the air and drops down to earth, report it as a bug. What happens if a doctor says this is my beta operation, report to me as a bug if you lose breath sometime. Isn't it funny? It is but they have to do their work honestly and perfectly. They will never have any Beta releases in between. Every release is a final release.
Now my question is: Do the releasers not have required talent to fix the bugs? Or is it like they don't have the guts to come up with something flawless? Or is it like they are afraid to leave Beta status altogether?
