Alpha/Beta/RC/RTM ... explination of different dev. stages?
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We've all seen the various stages of development for a product... alpha, beta, release candidate, release to manufacturer. I'm looking for something that does a good job of explaining EXACTLY what each stage involves. So many times you see people just talk about their software listed as Beta and RTM. My team is working on a new project and our customer has requested we use this staged development. Anyone have a good reference out there? -AC
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We've all seen the various stages of development for a product... alpha, beta, release candidate, release to manufacturer. I'm looking for something that does a good job of explaining EXACTLY what each stage involves. So many times you see people just talk about their software listed as Beta and RTM. My team is working on a new project and our customer has requested we use this staged development. Anyone have a good reference out there? -AC
1. Alpha "Gosh, something is working, sell it fast!" 2. Beta "Hey, someone found bugs!" 3. Release Candidate "Look at these bugs! Let's fire this stupid programmer!" 4. Ready To Market "Hey, we fired the programmer, we can't fix any bugs!" Q261186 - Computer Randomly Plays Classical Music
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We've all seen the various stages of development for a product... alpha, beta, release candidate, release to manufacturer. I'm looking for something that does a good job of explaining EXACTLY what each stage involves. So many times you see people just talk about their software listed as Beta and RTM. My team is working on a new project and our customer has requested we use this staged development. Anyone have a good reference out there? -AC
"alpha" and "beta" have been so overused that they have lost their meaning. "alpha" is rarely heard anymore. "beta" can mean anything from "don't sneeze or it'll crash" to "almost done, just a few things left to do." So these days anything pre-release is called "beta". RC = release candidate RTM = release to manufacturing --Mike-- "I'd rather you just give me a fish today, because even if you teach me how to fish, I won't do it. I'm lazy." -- Nish Just released - 1ClickPicGrabber - Grab & organize pictures from your favorite web pages, with 1 click! My really out-of-date homepage Sonork-100.19012 Acid_Helm
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We've all seen the various stages of development for a product... alpha, beta, release candidate, release to manufacturer. I'm looking for something that does a good job of explaining EXACTLY what each stage involves. So many times you see people just talk about their software listed as Beta and RTM. My team is working on a new project and our customer has requested we use this staged development. Anyone have a good reference out there? -AC
I'm using the following, but I'm not quite sure it's a standard: Alpha: early version, not all functionality, quite unstable Beta: all functionality (or mostly), still not very stable RC: in the transition cycle, when the feature set is frozen, stable but still minor bugs RTM: transition closed, the version is really stable, all documents are up-to-date, support is transfered to 1st line Hope it helps Eric soon not anymore in China PRC
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We've all seen the various stages of development for a product... alpha, beta, release candidate, release to manufacturer. I'm looking for something that does a good job of explaining EXACTLY what each stage involves. So many times you see people just talk about their software listed as Beta and RTM. My team is working on a new project and our customer has requested we use this staged development. Anyone have a good reference out there? -AC
I use the following: Alpha - Release to other developers, usually with full source and run in "debug" mode. Beta - Release to other developers and a select few who are possible stake-holders in the release (i.e. people who need the new functionality asap, bugs and all) for testing and quasi-production. Note, the build is likely still debug, but the application stands on its own. Release Candidate - When the product has all* bugs worked out, and an installation program has been built for the release, I will distribute the product to those users within my personal knowledge who really want it. The application is "release" build now, with optimizations and no debug info. Final Release - That's it. After any last-minuite updates, a new Install is built, and release is available for anyone who wants it. *as far as we can tell... - Nitron
"Those that say a task is impossible shouldn't interrupt the ones who are doing it." - Chinese Proverb