'Windows 7 Beta's Touch Capabilities Underwhelm'
Linked by weildish on Sat 7th Feb 2009 10:59 UTC
Windows One of the big hypes of Windows 7 was the new integrated touch and multitouch features unheard of in previous systems. On paper, it all looks nice, but the folks over at Engadget recently tested out these said features of the beta on an HP TouchSmart PC, and were underwhelmed by the efficiency of the features.
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RE[4]: not astonishing
by abraxas on Sat 7th Feb 2009 20:55 UTC in reply to "RE[3]: not astonishing"
abraxas
Member since:
2005-07-07

I think you're confusing "beta" with "release candidate." An RC is supposed to be feature complete, the purpose of the rc being to iron out any major issues that might still exist. A beta, on the other hand, typically isn't feature complete and is a work in progress in both areas, features and bug squashing.


No. Beta is feature complete. RC is exactly that, a Release Candidate. The final RC generally goes on to become the final release with little or no changes. Beta's are for testing the new features and APIs.

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[5]: not astonishing
by hollovoid on Sat 7th Feb 2009 23:48 in reply to "RE[4]: not astonishing"
hollovoid Member since:
2005-09-21

Where are we getting this definition of beta, last I knew, beta just means not final, and is up to a wide interpretation, some software is feature complete at beta, some isn't, some is at alpha, some isn't, in fact, i've seen RC's that didn't have features the final did, there isn't one set standard for any of these buzz words, and every company will define it's meaning in a way they see fit.

I love how this argument comes back like a crack addict, when there is no basis to stand on for either side.

Reply Parent Score: 3

RE[6]: not astonishing
by abraxas on Sat 7th Feb 2009 23:57 in reply to "RE[5]: not astonishing"
abraxas Member since:
2005-07-07

Where are we getting this definition of beta, last I knew, beta just means not final, and is up to a wide interpretation, some software is feature complete at beta, some isn't, some is at alpha, some isn't, in fact, i've seen RC's that didn't have features the final did, there isn't one set standard for any of these buzz words, and every company will define it's meaning in a way they see fit.

I love how this argument comes back like a crack addict, when there is no basis to stand on for either side.


It's not really up to wide interpretation in the general software development world. The only real reason people seem to be confused by the concept is because of the way Microsoft and a few other large software producers label their releases. The concept of alpha and beta releases has been around for a very long time but the confusion about what the terms mean is a relatively recent phenomenom. It probably doesn't help that a lot of people that have never developed software throw those terms around without really knowing what they mean.

Reply Parent Score: 2

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