What makes a Beta firmware a release?

Bruce Sokolovic

Bruce Sokolovic

Fractal Fanatic
So 16.00 so far, Ive seen no one complain about many failures or issues. What stops a beta from becoming an official firmware? Is it just time?? I know this particular beta there was more that needed to be specifically checked with the new modeling, but in general, what really separates the 2 and at what point does a beta become a release?
I’m just wondering,. Of course if this is secret sauce, I’m sure it wont be answered above speculation.
 
the release. :p


it's a decision; once you are confident a software has been tested enough and seems stable and relatively bug-free, you can release it.
 
Beta usually means a test before release. If you create a test and nothing is wrong, that can become the release without any changes.
 
Based on what’s been said, my guess is this time it’s due to testing the Cygnus modeling with the amps. Otherwise my guess is to wait to ensure stability, especially when there are big changes or additions
 
Any software is subject to the developers standards of quality.

You can add one amp, release it as 1.0 and call it a day. The next day fix issues with that and call it Release 2.0. The next day the same again

You can add 10 amps, fix every bug, test it rigorously and then release it as 1.0 after a month.
 
This will probably happen when all known bugs are addressed (minor popping/thumping when changing amp models/channels/scenes, 5150 III red channel) and when it's confirmed that all amps sound right (even if they are not fully updated to Cygnus). From my understanding Cygnus modelling requires new measurements on real amps. I assume Cliff measures all amps he has access to and updates other models based on educated guess if he doesn't have physical amps or if they don't exist (like he did with Brootalz). With Beta 4 around half of models were updated (with some of them not verified).
 
As others have said, it's a Beta when you're still testing/looking for feedback/working on the final parts, and you want a smaller number of your users to test it out. It's a full release when you're comfortable it's "finished" and can be released to the wider userbase.

That said, Fractal also usually gets a second round of safety by "soft releasing" it by only putting up the firmware thread first, then adding it to the Axe Edit "Update Available" notifications later when the forum users haven't run into problems.
 
Generally:
Alpha = not all planned features are not yet implemented, usually not public release but can be to get feedback on or evaluate a particular feature(s). Shits gonna break, no support.
Beta = all planned features for the release are implemented but it is not fully tested, expectation is that there are bugs. Shits gonna break, no support.
Release = all known bugs are resolved. In the chance you run into issues, full support from vendor.

(yes there is variance in this, sometimes you release with known bugs, etc.)
 
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