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Beta Than NothingMay 23, 2000
David
Schultz Last week Apple announced that it is making a beta version of OS X
available to the public in a few months. It will probably be released
in July at the Macworld Expo in New York, so it's a couple of months
away - but there's nothing like the present to start preparing. With Apple's recent rise in the consumer market, there may be
people out there who don't know what a beta version is. Or maybe you
do, but are just unsure how to proceed. If you fall into either of
these categories (and maybe if you don't), this article is for
you. Before I make a few simple suggestions on beta testing OS X, I
want to briefly touch on the controversy, if it can be called that,
over the announcement. When Apple announced and showed off OS X at Macworld Expo in
January, Steve Jobs said that a "consumer version" would be available
this spring. When they announced the beta, they said that was what
they meant back in January. So the "consumer version" meant "public
beta." They were very careful with their language at the time. We all
know why: Software development is very tricky. It's a long process.
Apple, too, is a small company that doesn't have the resources to put
into development. (Actually, a smaller group of programmers working
on a project is probably better than a committee which produces
bloated, buggy software.) Knowing this, Jobs peppered his
announcements with phrases like, "we hope to . . ." or phrases to
this effect. There was talk on the Mac Web about whether this could
be done or not, that is, whether they could get a consumer version
out by this spring. Most, that is, took the peppered announcement
with a grain of salt. Sure, Apple has engaged in semantic wordplay.
But Apple is a company after all, with an image to look after. Nonetheless, some were upset at the "delay." I was not. As I said
at Applelust.com
the night the announcement was made, I would rather have it done
right than quick. This a major overhaul of an operating system. It's
tricky and complex. I myself would rather have a beta than nothing at
all, that is, nothing at all until January 2001. Hey, a beta is beta
than nothin' in my eyes. I want to add that if Apple sells the beta as a shrink wrap
product, then they need to reward loyal beta testers. What I mean is
that if they charge, say, $150 for the public beta, those who bought
it should get the final version for at a reduced price, say $50 or
$30. If they make it free (I don't think they will, for they want to
keep those financials looking good and this is a way to do so), then
this is a moot point, of course. The point is they should to build in
some incentives for us to test OS X beta. This is a pragmatic point
though, since most simply want to get their paws on any version of OS
X, beta, free or not. Mac enthusiasm is incentive enough, but a
"thank you" from Apple would be nice. With that said . . . . . . prepare ye the way . . .In preparing for the beta, there are some things we can start
doing now. Before I look at them, I want to answer, for those who
don't know, "What's a beta version anyway?" When software is developed is goes through phases or stages of
development. Originally, the "alpha" phase of testing includes unit,
system and component testing. This is a very preliminary stage in
development. For OS X, these have been called developer previews. The second stage is the "beta" stage. At this point a beta is in a
partially recognizable version of the final software. It is
considered stable enough to go out of the software lab and into the
"real world." This is important, because a software lab cannot
completely duplicate every situation users will encounter. There are
consumer, SOHO, large business (corporate) and educational
environments which cannot all be duplicated in a lab. Moreover, there
are permutations of hardware and software that can only be imagined
in a lab. To save money (yes, it is a financial decision as well as a
software one) companies release, as it were, prerelease versions of
software for real world testing. This is a beta version: It's not
complete, but complete enough that it can be examined relative to
other computer components. There are versions of beta software as well. For example, a piece
of software may go through several beta versions, such as 1.01b,
1.02b and so on. When the testing is sufficiently complete the
software goes to Master, Golden Master, Final Candidate, and finally
up to the officially release to the public. Beta testers are usually developers, that is, people who are
developing software which needs to be compatible with whatever is
being tested. If Joe wants to develop a game for OS X, and he wants
to publish it the day OS X is released, then he needs a head start.
So he gets a developer version which he can run his game on to see if
it compatible. He also learns how certain APIs will be done and so
on. It makes for better software all the way around. But it costs
money to be a developer, and to join Apple's
Developer Program. So it is open only to the few. But the public can beta test as well. For example, you can sign up
to be a beta tester for Qualcomm's email program Eudora. Look
here and you'll see. There
are many other developers who make their software betas available to
the public. It's a good way to use some neato software if you know
what you're doing! Usually, though, a beta tester must sign or agree to a
"Nondisclosure Agreement" (NDA). This is not always the case, but
most of the time it is. There is such a thing as corporate spying,
you know. An NDA means a tester will keep quiet about the features,
improvements, and even, in some cases, the look of a piece of
software being developed. Obviously, they don't want to give a leg up
on the competition. By the way, keep this in mind when you read rumor
sites that have screen shots and "anonymous reports" of beta
software. I let you draw any conclusions. A beta version is not completely stable, that's why it's a beta
version. Actually, stability is only part of it. Compatibility is
another big part of testing. After the software is developed it needs
to be tested for compatibility with hardware and software. This is
especially true of an OS which underpins everything. The point of
testing is to find bugs and conflicts. And find them you will. Word
on the street is that developer releases of OS X have been very
stable. We hope so. But you need to keep this in mind. The first thing you should do is search the Web and bookstores and
read everything you can about OS X. Get to know OS X from afar
instead of setting up a blind date full of surprises. Apple's
OS X area is a good place to start. Multiple SystemsWith that said, here is the advice I offer to first time beta
testers. - Do not install the beta of OX S as the only OS on your only
machine. It's being tested, so you don't want to run it as your
only OS.
What do I mean by "only OS"? Can't you have only one? No. Charles
Moore, for example, has three OSes installed on his PowerBook. How?
Hard drive partitioning. You can partition your drive with the Drive
Setup software included with the OS and on their site. To partition a
drive means to break it into parts. For instance, if you have a 10 GB
hard drive, you can format it into three parts, each of 3.33 GB.*
Then, you install your system software on the partitions. Install Mac
OS 9.0.4 (or whatever version you're currently using) on the first
partition and OS X Public Beta on another partition. To test it,
choose the OS X drive as your start up drive from the Startup Disk
control panel and restart your computer. This way you can simply
choose which OS you'll run and work under by choosing which partition
is the start up disk. - * Note that partitioning your hard drive will erase all the
information on it. Be sure you have a current backup before
partitioning your drive. Also, your partitions need not be the
same size. See Hard Drive
Partitioning by Scott Barber for more comments on
partition.
Partitions are fine and pretty safe. And if OS X's memory
protection is all it's cracked up to be, then testing will be even
safer. But if you want to play it really safe, you need a
second hard drive. If it goes down you loose nothing but what was on
the drive. You may not want to use USB because most Macs cannot boot from USB
and it's much slower than a regular hard drive. If you have SCSI
you're fine. If you have IDE, your controller may support an
additional drive. I would suggest, however, if you have FireWire or a 1394 card,
that you buy a FireWire drive. VST
makes some nice ones that are only as big as a deck of cards. (They
are having a sale on the 3 GB one right now for $279. Look here.) - Once you have the partition or drive set up, methodically
(read that again), install other software and start, well,
testing. That is, just use it as you normally would.
Since you won't have single copies of mission critical information
of the OS X, be sure to backup anything critical. Common sense. Now just use it. Surf the web; use all the software you normally
use and use it the way you normally would. When something does wrong,
take notes. Notes are important, since Apple, if they do things
right, will have a feedback center or phone number set up for this
information. They want to know what you were doing when it crashed,
if you can duplicate the crash, what solved it, and so on. You will
want to have your hardware configuration handy, because they'll want
to know exactly what you're using. Write down your RAM amount,
printer used, kind of modem, and so on. Print out a copy of the
System Profiler's feedback and have it handy. They will want to know.
Troubleshooting software would be a good investment as well. But do more than use it normally: Try to make it crash and try
to cause conflicts. What? Am I nuts? No, but you should go nuts. Fill the drive with
oddities. Use older software; use newer software; install lots of
fonts. It's also a good idea to get other beta software that is being
developed for OS X and let developers know how their software is
faring. Just mix it up good. You have nothing to lose, and Apple (and
others) will want to know. In a word: Go Microsoft on OS X. See if it
holds, and if so, how well. Finally, let me say this: If you don't know what you're doing,
don't beta test. It takes some good troubleshooting skills and a good
working knowledge of hardware and software to beta test in a
profitable and meaningful way. You need to be able to explain to
Apple what's up. You need to know what the "Classic Environment" is,
for example. And, of course, none of this applies to you if you don't
have at least a G3. I have tried to raise the level of discussion on the Mac Wed about
the public beta release of OS X. It has been pretty pathetic out
there, with people feeling almost personally offended at the
situation. Let's get past it and deal with the situation as it
presently is. There is nothing we can do about it, other than what I
have suggested (which is a lot actually). Let's be productive and
help out Apple.
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