I’ve got Olympic spirit, yes I do. But when I wanted to watch some online video a few days ago, the NBC Olympics Web site told me I needed to install Silverlight (a Flash-like multimedia player from Microsoft).
Weird, thinks I, ’cause I’m pretty sure I’ve already got Silverlight installed. But I clicked the link anyway (Olympic spirit only slightly diminished), and… was prompted to install Silverlight Beta 2.
Beta? I thought beta releases were meant for advanced users, early adopters who were willing to live with the possibility of bugs and crashes. According to Wikipedia:
A beta version is the first version released outside the organization or community that develops the software, for the purpose of evaluation or real-world black/grey-box testing. The process of delivering a beta version to the users is called beta release. Beta level software generally includes all features, but may also include known issues and bugs of a less serious variety.
The users of a beta version are called beta testers. They are usually customers or prospective customers of the organization that develops the software. They receive the software for free or for a reduced price, but act as free testers.
Apparently, folks at NBC and Microsoft decided to expand the definition by a billion people. So enjoy, beta testers.
