Traditional definition of “Beta”?
Daring Fireball comments that
— people thought that what Google meant by “beta” was what everyone else means by “beta”.
on the basis of this from Google:
…particularly those who subscribe to the traditional definition of “beta” software as not being yet ready for prime time.
Thing is, that isn’t the “traditional definition” of beta. Beta simply means that the software is undergoing an external test period of some description. It doesn’t imply anything about quality, and it never did.
If the version that was released as a beta turns out not to have any major bugs, it’s entirely possible that that same code (albeit with the beta tag removed) will subsequently be released.
I don’t know where this whole “not ready for prime time” thing came from—though I’ve seen mention of it before elsewhere—but it’s simply not true.
I can tell you where the "not ready for prime time" came from. Look at the "beta" release of Windows 7 as an example. Or the beta versions of the iPhone OS for that matter. The developer claims that you should install those betas on "non-mission critical systems". Basically saying that the version of the OS being released could cause all kinds of hurt, so you should not install them on a system that you need, just on a system being used for testing.
My interpretation of Google's "Beta" is that they are experimenting with new features and if something happens to your email messages or what have you, it's not Google's fault, it's your own for not heeding the "Beta" claim on the web page.
My understanding of software development code words for product development phases:
Alpha: Code not complete. Features missing. Testing items that are in current version.
Beta: Code complete. Code freeze. No new features will be added. Testing all items.
Release Candidate: If no new bugs are found in a pre-determined amount of time, program will be released.
Final: Program released.
There are probably other phases used in-between the mentioned phases above, but those are the basic phases.