September 26, 2008 at 12:20 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Take Part in a Beta Test
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
September 26, 2008 at 9:27 am
We used TFS 2008 Beta, that didn't go so well as there was no official Microsoft Upgrade Path from TFS 2008 Beta to RTM
SQL 2008 we tested RC0 and was a smooth move to RTM
September 26, 2008 at 9:31 am
My most recent set of beta testing is with the Visual Studio Team System Database Edition. They've got a new release coming out to support SQL Server 2008, but it's also changing the mechanisms the tool uses for builds and deployments. CTP 15 hosed the virtual I was running it on, but CTP 16 seems pretty solid. You just have to plan for the fact that from one release to the next, software or code or projects that worked might stop working. It's a pain, but part of the process of taking part in a beta.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
September 27, 2008 at 2:44 am
Interesting article...
September 27, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I couldn't have said it better myself. The article lists every reason that I take part in Betas and the appropriate approach to feedback.
I was amused by the "if it doesn't install, the Beta evaluation ends though". In my experience about 30% of Betas don't install properly on all platforms - probably 40% on MS products! I always sigh, and then try and figure out ...just...exactly...why...the blasted thing will not install before I get to start! 🙂
September 28, 2008 at 4:17 am
You're just more diligent than I am. If I can't get it installed, I toss my hands up & move on. Since I've started working exclusively on virtuals when I'm doing a beta, I've had fewer install problems. It comes from not having to worry about uninstalling all the previous betas.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
September 28, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I'd say that's a fair point. One bad Beta can mess up a lot of the installs that follow it, particularly with development tools that don't uninstall the Betas properly!
As a software house, almost all of our company's internal testing is on Virtual Machines now. Increasingly the Beta's go on those too, although when it comes to dev' tools I can't help but try them on "real" hardware. Hmmmm....I wonder if that VS2008Beta will perform better with the corporate McAffee config. :ermm:
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