in the new-product development process, testing a prototype product by letting a carefully-selected group of consumers use the product and register their reactions; concept may be applied to testing advertising or other promotion tools. See alpha testing and new-product development process.
One of the last phases of development of software in which final testing is performed, often involving external volunteer testers who help by reporting bugs and problems encountered.
The term beta refers to a stage near the end of a programme's development. Beta testing is the process of checking a programme at this stage for errors.
The second stage in testing new software: making it available to selected users, who try out the software under normal operating conditions, in the kind of environment in which it will be used.
A program's second-release to discover bugs and receive feedback. Beta versions may be made public or may be released to a small number of designated "beta-testers." Typically, beta versions have fewer bugs than alpha versions but more bugs than a regular release.
The testing done by a software developer that includes use and reviews by outside individuals.
It describes the second phase of software testing in which a sample of the intended audience tries the product out before it is released out at large.
the launch testing of an application in its production environments by a few key users prior to acceptance testing and its release to the entire user community.
The process of field testing new hardware or software products before the product's commercial or formal release. Beta testing is usually done by a cross-section of users, not just programmers. The purpose of beta testing is to expose the new product to as many real-life operating conditions as possible. If the beta tests indicate a higher-than-expected number of bugs, the developer usually fixes the problems and sends the product out again for another round of beta testing. Preliminary versions of the product documentation are also circulated for review during the beta testing.(Ref: Dyson, Dictionary of Networking)
The pre-testing of hardware or software products with selected customers to discover inadequate features or possible product enhancements before it is released to the general public.
From the science of probability, "betting" that if enough monkeys with keyboards test the software, all bugs will be found.
Testing conducted at one or more end user sites by the end user of a delivered software product or system.
Testing a new product on users before its official release.
Operational testing at a site not otherwise involved with the software developers.
A way of ensuring that computer systems work properly, by giving them to lots of potential users to try out. This isn't considered very effective as many users don't bother to report back with errors or avoid areas of the program that don't work. The program's authors may find it too difficult or expensive to fix fundamental errors even if they are reported. See Testing.
is the name given to the process of testing the beta version of a program. Programs usually get released in alpha and beta states for testing prior to final release.
The act of testing and proofing a custom-authored computer application.
A more thorough testing done by someone other than the programmer.
testing a new product by letting customers use it before it is officially launched.
Pre- release testing in which a sampling of the intended customer base tries out the product. [D04690] RUP
an engineering term for field testing of what is hoped to be the final version of a product about to be marketed for sale. Beta test units must be built using the same production process that will be utilized for saleable units, and must be built exactly to the specs intended for same. Field testing is to be accomplished in intended use applications at intended facility customers. In short, real world conditions. Unless unanticipated results or user input are encountered, the final product will be the same as beta test units. (Note that beta test units must be returned to the manufacturer.) Also see “alpha testing.
Testing of a stabilized product by external end users.
Testing a pre-released (and potentially unreliable) version of a product, business initiative, or software by making it available to selected users. Whereas an "alpha" test involves in-house testing, a "beta" test denotes external testing.
Testing of a rerelease of a software product conducted by customers.
A test for a computer-related product prior to commercial release. Beta testing is the last stage of testing and normally can involve sending the product to beta test sites (clients) outside the company for real-world exposure and feature enhancements. Beta test sites typically benefit from their early exposure to new versions and their influence surrounding additional feature requests specifically targeting their operating environment - they receive the benefits of designing their own software without having to build it themselves. Beta testing is often preceded by a round of testing called alpha testing.
The second-stage test-version of a newly developed piece of hardware and/or software, which is distributed free to a limited sample of users so that they can subject it to daily use and report any problems to the manufacturer. After the "bugs" are fixed, the final version of the program is released to the general public.