Re: [NTLK] 2010 fix

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

For the sake of clarity, my remarks simply stemmed from the fact that I have
been on many software companies beta teams in the past, and all of these
companies have classified their "alpha" grade software as "feature
incomplete." Whether there are more or fewer "bugs" versus "Beta" is
subject to more debate.

So in making my previous remarks, I was indirectly wondering if this Newton
software is in fact, "feature incomplete." And if so, I wonder what is
missing.

It was also said that many people have tested this software and found that
setting the date to 2010 causes no problems, but is that true for most
packages, some packages? It would be nice to see a comprehensive
compatibility/trouble chart if anyone has ever made the time to create that.
I think that, more than anything else, would shed light on just how well
this 2010 fix works.

Best,

James Wages

============

On 9/9/08 11:19 AM, "Ken Whitcomb" <ken@imageguild.com> wrote:

> James,
> The terms alpha and beta refer to the stage in the development and
> testing process that the code is in. While the attributes that you
> ascribe to each stage are typical, they do not define the terms. It
> is feasible that one application in alpha can demonstrate fewer
> problems than another that is officially in beta. At times, the stage
> that code is assigned to is a reflection of how ready those writing
> the code are to move to the next step in the development process.
> We've all seen how software that is moved out of beta isn't always
> ready, and even how some software (e.g. Longhorn) doesn't make it out
> of what we generally consider "beta". In fact there are multiple sub-
> processes that we in the general public typically aren't even aware
> of in the development and testing processes.
> best,
> ken
> On Sep 8, 2008, at 8:14 PM, James Wages wrote:
>
>> But if that is true (and I believe it is), then why is it
>> considered "alpha"
>> software? For indeed, Alpha version software is typically not
>> usable at all
>> either due to bugs which plague it and/or due to it being "feature
>> incomplete." So if there are no major bugs and if it is largely
>> "feature
>> complete," I would expect it to have been called "beta" or "pre-
>> release"
>> rather than "alpha." But then again, perhaps the individual who
>> programmed
>> it simply did not understand the differences between "alpha" and
>> "beta"
>> software.
>
>
>
>
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Received on Mon Sep 8 23:25:17 2008