Re: [NTLK] 2010 fix

James,
The terms alpha and beta refer to the stage in the development and
testing process that the code is in. While the attributes that you
ascribe to each stage are typical, they do not define the terms. It
is feasible that one application in alpha can demonstrate fewer
problems than another that is officially in beta. At times, the stage
that code is assigned to is a reflection of how ready those writing
the code are to move to the next step in the development process.
We've all seen how software that is moved out of beta isn't always
ready, and even how some software (e.g. Longhorn) doesn't make it out
of what we generally consider "beta". In fact there are multiple sub-
processes that we in the general public typically aren't even aware
of in the development and testing processes.
best,
ken
On Sep 8, 2008, at 8:14 PM, James Wages wrote:

> But if that is true (and I believe it is), then why is it
> considered "alpha"
> software? For indeed, Alpha version software is typically not
> usable at all
> either due to bugs which plague it and/or due to it being "feature
> incomplete." So if there are no major bugs and if it is largely
> "feature
> complete," I would expect it to have been called "beta" or "pre-
> release"
> rather than "alpha." But then again, perhaps the individual who
> programmed
> it simply did not understand the differences between "alpha" and
> "beta"
> software.

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Received on Mon Sep 8 22:20:09 2008