The following is a chart accompanying an article published by Directions on Microsoft, an
independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and
reports are also available.
Chart shows typical types of prereleases in large commercial software projects and what customers and partners can do with each.
Release
What to Expect
Purpose
Internal Milestone
No distribution outside Microsoft; may have incomplete functionality and serious bugs
Checkpoint to measure progress compared with the schedule
Alpha
First distribution outside Microsoft
Incomplete features
Will have bugs, including some that may cause crashes and data loss
Begin to share details on product with closely trusted partners and customers
Beta
All features implemented
Basically stable, particularly around core scenarios, but will still crash
Verify compatibility across broad range of hardware and software
Release Candidate
Complete product with all features working and documented
