It’s no secret the most frequently asked question by Windows TechBeta testers is when will the next build be released? Veteran testers have grown accustomed to receiving frequent builds that show the progress of the OS allowing them to retest bugs. This has all changed with Steven Sinofsky taking over as the head of Windows 7.
Instead of releasing interim builds to TechBeta testers Microsoft decided to only provide major milestone builds. Pre-Beta (M3), Beta, Release Candidate (RC) and Release To Manufacturing (RTM). According to GeekSmack, this change is part of Steven’s strategy to speed up development and manage the perception of Windows 7.
Before any build in the past was released to testers it went through many levels of verification and refinement so that it was guaranteed to at least function at a minimum level. To speed up Windows 7 those interim releases were eliminated to allow developers focus fully on the major milestone releases.
Steven’s explanation according to the article on GeekSmack sounds reasonable but why does Microsoft continue to release interim builds to hardware partners and TAP members? In short, because the quality of daily builds can vary dramatically and Steven does not want Windows to look bad if a bad build is released. These builds can work great or have a number of show stopping issues such as installation issues.
While I agree with this explanation for the general public why does it apply to TechBeta testers? Has the TechBeta program really become a group of users that would get upset if they got a bad build that would not install? Would they start trash taking Windows if there was a major bug that showed up in random interm builds? They shouldn’t and if there were any users that would do those things they are the wrong type of user to be included in the technical beta. In fact, one condition of the TechBeta is that everything is under NDA unless it was also released to the public such as the beta build.
Making sure everyone follows the rules and the TechBeta contains users that are actually technical will allow Microsoft to benefit from the army of talented TechBeta testers that have been doing this for years.
The concerns Steven has about releasing interim builds to the TechBeta should expose the problems with the type of some participants admitted into the program. Every single person in the technical beta should be a highly technical user and have the sole purpose to improve Windows. The TechBeta is not for users that want to casually track the progress of Windows and for journalist to get builds to write about.
Can the TechBeta please be technical again?
