A pre-shipping release of hardware or software that has gone through alpha test. A beta version of software is supposed to be very close to the final product, but, in practice, it is more a way of getting users to test the software in the first place under real conditions. Given the complexity and ambiguous standards in the PC industry, it is impossible to duplicate the myriad of configurations that exist in the real world. See alpha test, beta test, release candidate and dog-food.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Mozilla Firefox 3.6 beta 4 (Mac)
- Firefox 3.6 Beta is built on Mozilla's Gecko 1.9.2 web rendering platform, which has been under development for several months and contains many improvements for web developers, Add-on developers and users. This version is also faster and more responsive than previous versions, and has been optimized to run on small...
- Software downloads 2009-11-26
- MyBlood 1.0 (Mac)
- MyBlood has a number of unique features that make the product stand out towards its competitors: Ã?? MyBlood runs on Mac OS as well as on XP, Vista and Windows 7 with the same single source code and is fully GEDCOM 5.5 compliant Ã?? MyBlood has very strong visualization capabilities,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-23
- Office Starter 2010 private beta, with 'Office to GO,' goes to testers
- Installing SP2010, Office 2010, and VS 2010 now...Should have a working environment by this weekend. The graphic at the bottom of the article should also include two of the more exciting services in 2010 - Access Services for hosting database driven forms and reports and Visio Services, for publishing data...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- Google makes Chrome OS open source today
- I like itThe ChromeOS demo looked pretty cool!I'm almost 100% webapp-based already, so I could see myself using a simple, fast & no maintenance OS like that the majority of the time.I like it too, but, for me, I need to compile and run programs locally. I would imagine that...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Google makes Chrome OS open source today
- Contrary to rumors, Google did not release a beta version of its much anticipated Chrome operating system today. And nothing is coming anytime soon: the final version is at least a year away, the mega giant web company said. But there was some significant news for the...
- Blog posts 2009-11-19
- (Unboxing the free PDC laptop (photos))
- Acer? MehI'll pass.Don't knock 'em.I am typing this on a rock-solid 5 year old Acer Ferrari 4000 that has run every alpha, beta, CTP, RC and RTM of Vista and Win7, has travelled around the globe with me, been used for countless keynotes, presentations and demo's and is currently being...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Microsoft Office 2010, SharePoint 2010 public betas now available for download
- Microsoft still firmly planted in the LAST century.NTLinux Kernel speaks?Hmmm, I'd fear for the future of Linux if this is what comes out of it. You'd think the "many eyes" would have caught such silly logic in the kernel years ago...and looking ready to dominate this oneas well.Google is...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
- Office 2010 Beta 2: More than just a bunch of pretty icons
- Of course its better, they stole ideas fromOf course 2010 is better, they stole (oops, innovated) most of the new ideas from Office MVPs that built add ins to previous versions. (There is a very silent revolt going on in the MVP ranks over it and many long term...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
- Mozilla Firefox 3.6 beta 3 (Windows)
- Firefox 3.6 beta 2 Namoroka is the first developer milestone of the next release of Firefox. Namoroka is built on pre-release version of the Gecko 1.9.2 platform, which forms the core of rich internet applications such as Firefox. Please note that this release is intended for developers and testers only....
- Software downloads 2009-11-18
- Flash Player 10.1 Beta (Windows)
- Adobe Flash Player 10.1 prerelease version of Flash Player 10.1 is now available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems.It is being made available for developers and consumers to test their content to ensure new features function as expected, existing content plays back correctly, and there are no compatibility issues.Consumers...
- Software downloads 2009-11-17
- NMath Stats 3.1 (Windows)
- NMath Stats contains a data table class with functions for computing descriptive statistics, such as mean, variance, standard deviation, percentile, median, quartiles, geometric mean, harmonic mean, RMS, kurtosis, skewness, and many more; PDF, CDF, inverse CDF, and random variable moments for a variety of probability distributions, including normal Gaussian, Poisson,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-17
- Office 2010 Beta downloadable by MSDN, Technet subscribers today
- MS was rightThe leaked 14.0.4514.1009 isn't Beta 2. It's actually 14.0.4514.1004! If that page is right, Beta 2 is actually older. This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened.http://windows7center.com/forums/office-2010/4949-office-professional-plus-2010-beta-x64-x86-now-msdn.htmlAgreed...just downloaded it with the same info. nt...RE: Office 2010 Beta downloadable by MSDN, Technet subscribers todayThe build...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-16
- Is imminent Chrome OS launch reckless?
- First Impressions"first impressions are extremely important."Yup, Vista SP1/SP2 is a good operating system. Microsoft botched the initial release of Vista, and it gave a good operating system a permanently bad name.reckless not sure dangerous surely i may sound stupid or ill inform but ...What will be Chrome...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-14
- iFinance 3.1 Beta 2 (Mac)
- iFinance 3 offers a comprehensive and efficient approach to easily manage your personal finances. iFinance 3 conveniently manages your entire cash flow over multiple accounts. The completely redesigned graphic user interface GUI helps you keeping an eye on all relevant information -- at all times. Quick access to your data...
- Software downloads 2009-11-14
- Office 2010 Beta 2 bits leak to the Web
- Professional Plus?Good luck home users - this is the KMS version last time I looked. In other words, corporate version requiring a Key Management Server to activate... weekly?NO longer needed with Cloud infrastructureLook out Google used Linux derived success willconquer the MS Office with it solution forbusiness.Companies will save...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-13
- Office 2010 Beta 2 bits leak to the Web
- Microsoft has been having a tough time keeping its Office 2010 bits from leaking. On November 13, the Professional Plus version of the next version of Microsoft's productivity suite leaked again. by Mary Jo Foley
- Blog posts 2009-11-13
- Microsoft Office 2010: An overview of the core applications
- Office 2010 has generated a lot of positive feedback from those who have been working with the Technical Preview. Now, with the release of the public beta just around the corner, it's time for some serious evaluation: Do the enhanced features in Office 2010 warrant adoption? This...
- Download resources 2009-11-10
- Why I'm letting someone else run my Exchange 2010 server
- Why ironic?Given that exchange is the de facto standard in business email/cal having their products working as perfectly as possible with exchange is a must. Not only that, they advertise this functionality. Did you expect it to fail miserably? Your expectations must have been low. Heh.It took yearsNative Exchange support...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-09
- Thunderbird 3: Near-final version due next week
- Thunderbird 3, an update to the email software Mozilla hopes will give it some of the advantages its Firefox browser has enjoyed, is due to arrive in near-final form next week. Thunderbird 3, an update to the email software Mozilla hopes will give it some of the advantages its...
- News items 2009-11-06
- Windows 7's default UAC bypassed by 8 out of 10 malware samples
- RE: Windows 7's default UAC bypassed by 8 out of 10 malware samplesyawnWho can I trust *now*....Even Ed Bott said '7' was more secure!The Windows Infect Season is not over yet.. Nothing's changed.... That people even USE Windows these days is quite remarkable.... It must be the power of habit...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-05
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