ive downloaded windows media player 10 and mesenger 7 is it worth downloading the betas is there a catch ?

Depends what you want and how critical it will be if they break your PC. Betas aren't, by definition, finished products. If they have some killer feature that you're desperate to test out and don't mind an extra risk of running software that the manufacturer is aware isn't fully ready for release, then go for it. If you're running a mission-critical machine and/or can't afford to increase the risk your machine is exposed to, then wait.

There may be problems with beta version software that needs ironing out. This is why they are released to the general public, so they can use it and report any problems.

It depends how impatient you are. :D

As someone who writes software myself and releases beta's there's a few rules of thumb to consider.

1. Beta means, it sort of works but there's going to be some problems in there so it could break, never work, result in total failure of your computer, your sense of humour...

2. As a result of 1. You're risking ALL your data on, not only the PC you have it installed on but also any computers networked to your PC....

3. Support for beta products will be virtually non-existant and unfortunately a lot of people don't accept this. Nothing annoys developers more than demanding users who say "It doesn't work" with naff all other detail... ESP is never a developers strong point.

4. Beta in microsoft world means it's probably chock full of security vulnerabilities and they'll be tapped by the crackers who will also be playing with it... Even when the final comes out you may leave some holes that can be exploited in the future. This isn't an anti-microsoft dig... it's just that they're so darned big that they provide a juicy target for crackers and script kiddies so you need to bear that in mind...



So... all in all... my advice is to wait until a final version arrives and even then you might want to wait a little while to see if anything nasty crops up..

Just my 10 penneth worth

Originally posted by Martin_s
As someone who writes software myself and releases beta's there's a few rules of thumb to consider.

1. Beta means, it sort of works but there's going to be some problems in there so it could break, never work, result in total failure of your computer, your sense of humour...

2. As a result of 1. You're risking ALL your data on, not only the PC you have it installed on but also any computers networked to your PC....

3. Support for beta products will be virtually non-existant and unfortunately a lot of people don't accept this. Nothing annoys developers more than demanding users who say "It doesn't work" with naff all other detail... ESP is never a developers strong point.

4. Beta in microsoft world means it's probably chock full of security vulnerabilities and they'll be tapped by the crackers who will also be playing with it... Even when the final comes out you may leave some holes that can be exploited in the future. This isn't an anti-microsoft dig... it's just that they're so darned big that they provide a juicy target for crackers and script kiddies so you need to bear that in mind...



So... all in all... my advice is to wait until a final version arrives and even then you might want to wait a little while to see if anything nasty crops up..

Just my 10 penneth worth

Well you've scared the S**t out of me Martin_s! Infact i may even take the letter B off my keyboard :hihi: :thumbsup:

Originally posted by vidster
Well you've scared the S**t out of me Martin_s! Infact i may even take the letter B off my keyboard :hihi: :thumbsup:
Heh heh... It worked then :D

I may have painted a slightly extreme picture but basically it's not advised unless you have no problem with reinstalling windows from scratch every few months...