14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft announced that they are planning to rely more on the CTP (Community Technology Previews) for Windows Vista input rather than ship out an official "Beta 2" release. They've revamped their release cycle and have planned to get out two completely new test builds for the next two calendar quarters.
Since there will be no single "Beta 2," more users could get a chance to try out the CTP builds and give Microsoft the feedback that they need.
Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's Platform Products & Services Division in Redmond, was on a press tour last week getting users riled up and showing off some of the December CTP's features. Although CTP's are typically less stable than Betas, Microsoft has been able to progress a whole lot faster with the positive feedback from the users. A first quarter CTP, which is going to Technology Adoption Program (TAP) testers, is the "enterprise CTP," Allchin said.
Allchin said there won't be a single, traditional Beta 2 or any kind of usual "Release Candidates" for Vista anymore, but Vista is still on track for the second half of this year. From here on out, it will be all CTP releases. Allchin added that "Customers do need significant milestones? But you could classify CTPs as betas, but for a different audience."
Allchin added that for the Windows Server 'Longhorn,' Microsoft is planning a number of CTP builds while it's going through its testing process until its manufacturing release in 2007. Allchin added that "We still have lots of bugs, application performance and compatibility things to work on," but as it stands now, Vista is feature complete.
Some Beta testers are taking this latest announcement with a grain of salt though. A tester who whished to remain anonymous said, "The question is, what level of feedback are they going to take with CTPs versus an administrated beta program? I think the CTP is good for getting the product into customers' hands early, but for systems professionals who want to be able to interact with the company, it might not be as good."
Only time and quality of the final product will tell if the more to CTP-only testing was a good idea.