Alpha version, or simply "alpha", is used to identify software that is undergoing very early pre-release testing in its development cycle, typically under tight control by the developer or trusted associates. The software may be functional, but the feature set may still be unpolished and undergoing experimentation before being frozen for the beta testing stage.[1]
Copland was a notorious example of highly unstable beta software that otherwise would have been considered to be in the alpha stage of development, revealing management problems at Apple Computer at the time.[2]
References
- ↑ What is the difference between an alpha and a beta release? by Chafic, Stack Exchange. 2014-05-29.
- ↑ Today in Apple history: Apple’s ‘unreleased’ Mac OS ships to devs by Luke Dormehl, Cult of Mac. 2019-11-17.
External links
- Alpha testing at the Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing
- Alpha Software at the Tech Terms Computer Dictionary
- Alpha software at the Adobe Wiki
- Software release life cycle: Alpha at Wikipedia
