Comments for Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

Comment from Sue on 2009-03-06

2009-03-07T00:31:51Z

My husband installed IE8 Beta and now it stops working in the middle of using the internet. We called our cable internet provider and he told us the problem is with our computer. He could not even get Internet Explorer to come on at all. I had to go into control panel and get into it from there. I then installed Firefox and it works well and is so much faster. I wish there was a way to uninstall IE8, and go back to the IE7, but I don't know what it is without cleaning off the whole computer. Do you have any suggestions? We've learned our lesson the hard way.

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

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Comment from Phil Mitchell on 2009-02-21

2009-02-22T03:16:39Z

I loaded and ran a beta copy of IE8 with no problems at all -- then upgraded to the latest release candidate, and my machine has slowed waayy down!!

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

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Comment from A. Orcan on 2009-02-19

2009-02-19T13:09:31Z

Whatever is said about Beta goes for many other software as well. I have got many than I have paid for when I set up software I actually owned in three occasions. I had to work for hours to clean up my system and in once my OS updates would not work anymore claiming that I already had the latest version among other problems like preventing setup of some software claiming that I already had it. Internet is a great place to learn about finding out such problems. Check first, then make a backup of your system drive and do not be sorry later. That's why I keep my system drive small and only keep my OS there. Restoring, scanning, defragging, everything is so easier that way.

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

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Comment from Richard FDisk on 2009-02-19

2009-02-19T09:40:53Z

Some people think of Beta as Free,
instead of having to pay for the final product, they get Beta-ware hoping that it's as good as the final cut will be, and is in some "Very" rare instances even better on a particular PC configuration but might crash constantly or worse on most other configurations

Beta doesn't mean free-ware it means please test this for us so we don't have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on tons of different PC configs and charge accordingly for the final cut.

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

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Comment from joel21 on 2009-02-17

2009-02-18T02:00:44Z

hi everyone !!! few days ago i installed beta software what so called windows 7 based on trial version from microsoft [ trial will end on august 1th 2009 ] . there ware some rumors that by installing windows 7 you might get into problems like slow machine, system problem and eventually computer crash [ BSOD - blue screen of dead ] . to prevent such a problem i created a partition on my hard drive where i intended to install windows 7 . so i tell you people everything went smooth . so now i have dual boot vista and windows 7 on 2 different partition . so mine advice is create another partition so you can install windows 7 on it. and finally you must make sure you have windows installation cd where windows vista [ or xp ] installed first !!!!!
good luck everyone . go for it windows 7 just great !

"Go For It" only if you have a way to recover if it fails. Backup, other partition, VM, I don't care. Just don't overwrite your only copy of your OS with a Beta version.

- Leo
18-Feb-2009

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

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Comment from Moo Moo Veda on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T21:54:44Z

What about "release candidate" software. Do you think "release candidate" software causes problems like Beta software does?

Theoretically it's better, but in my opinion if the actual final release is that close, then it's simply not worth the risk. I'd wait for the real, final, release.

- Leo
18-Feb-2009

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

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Comment from Norby Fleisig on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T18:22:47Z

That's why Virtual Machines were invented. Use that as a "sandbox" to play in; that way a crash won't hose your "real" system.

Absolutely. But setting up a VM is more work, and many people just can resist the siren's call of the "just install this beta and try it out" without taking those extra steps.

- Leo
18-Feb-2009

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Lloyd Hite on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T17:57:44Z

I installed the first IE 8 Beta version and used it until the final version was released and I never had a problem with it, In fact it ran better than IE 7 ever did.
Lloyd

I'm sure you did. The problem is that hearing this, others will get the impression that it's safe, and move ahead and install the Beta without taking proper precautions. Hopefully they'll be OK, but they could have problems...

- Leo
18-Feb-2009

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from jyothish kumar on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T17:00:47Z

Thank you for this answer to the question. i was planning to install internet explorer 8 the final beta release. iam not a software tester.guess i was terribly lucky in not doing so .

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A comment on: Why would installing Beta software cause problems?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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