Technical Preview

[minimus]

What is exactly a Technical preview is? I read on web that a TP of office
2010 is out. Is this version a close to a final version?

Do we have an official release date for office, hence ON, 2010?

 

[David Olsen]

Looks like first half of 2010:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Apr09/04-15Office2010.mspx

 

[Ilya Koulchin]

What is exactly a Technical preview is?

I think a Technical preview is what PR folks call what was formerly
called a beta.

I read on web that a TP of office 2010 is out.

The Office 2010 TP is not currently available (at least not through any
properly licensed channels). The expected availability is in several months.

 

[John Waller]

What is exactly a Technical preview is?

I think a Technical preview is what PR folks call what was formerly called
a beta.

Not sure that's entirely satisfactory. The term beta is used loosely these
days.

Some Google software seems to be in beta, but widespread use, for years.

I've always thought of a Technical Preview as a form of beta which has
released a specific milestone.

 

[Erik Sojka]

Google's usage aside, the difference seems to be in the audience for whom
the beta is intended. MS has internal milestones and they run their own
software internally (eat their own dogfood, so to speak). My recollection
of the Office 2007 beta is that early betas were released to a tiny
audience (typically MVPs and some other limited partners) and were called
by their internal milestone designations (DogfoodV4, Beta 1, Beta 2, etc.)
and when the big public release of the beta was announced, I think it was
around the Beta 2 days, the version of the SW was Beta 2 but the
program/method used to distribute Beta 2 to the larger audience was called
the Technical Preview.

 

[Steve Silverwood]

MS has internal milestones and they run their own
software internally (eat their own dogfood, so to speak).

And that's EXACTLY as it should be. Any company that doesn't use its
own products is basically telling the world that the company lacks
faith in those products. In other words, if it's not good enough for
the people that MADE it, it certainly isn't good enough for the people
that are BUYING it!

Commendations and kudos to Microsoft for this approach. I've worked
at other outfits (who will remain nameless in this discussion) who
used other products than their own, and took hits in the technical
press when that was found out.

//Steve//

 

[Steve Silverwood]

I think a Technical preview is what PR folks call what was formerly
called a beta.


The Office 2010 TP is not currently available (at least not through any
properly licensed channels). The expected availability is in several months.

It's more like a pre-beta, a post-alpha "advance look" at the product
before it enters a full beta program. Kind of in a limbo between the
alpha version and something that's worthy of going into beta test.

At least, that's been my experience in the past with similar projects.

//Steve//