Differences between alpha, beta, RC, and GA versions

ALPHA: it is an internal beta version. It is generally not released to external entities and has many bugs. It is generally only used by testers.

BETA: it is also a test version. New features will be added to this version. Released after Alpha.

RC :( Release Candidate) as its name implies! Used in software is a candidate version. The system platform is a candidate release version. The RC version will not add new features, mainly focusing on debugging.

GA: general availability, officially released version. GA is used abroad to describe the release version.

RTM :( release to manufacture) is a version that gives the factory a large number of flags, the content is the same as the official version, but the RTM version also has restrictions and evaluation versions. But it is the same as the main program code in the official version.

OEM: it is sold to computer manufacturers along with computers, that is, the random version. Only random devices can be shipped, not retail. It can only be completely installed and cannot be upgraded from the old operating system. The packaging is not as elegant as the retail version, and usually only one CD and manual (authorization letter) are available ).

RVL: it is called the official version. In fact, RVL is not the version name at all. It was cracked by the Chinese/English documents.

Eval: the eval version circulating on the network is similar to the evaluation version and has no difference in functionality from the retail version.

RTL: the retail (retail version) is the real official version, officially launched into the retail version. There is an eula.txt in the iworkflow folder of the installation disk, and the last line of eulaid is your version. For example, the simplified Chinese official version is eulaid: wx.4 _ pro_rtl_cn, and the traditional Chinese official version is wx.4 _ pro_rtl_tw. Where: If it is wx. It starts with the official version, and WB. It starts with the beta version. _ Pre, representing the family edition; _ Pro, representing the Professional Edition.

α, β, and λ are commonly used to represent three stages in the software testing process. α is the first stage and is generally used only for internal testing. β is the second stage, most of the imperfections in the software have been eliminated, but there may still be defects and vulnerabilities. Generally, they are only available to specific user groups for testing. λ is the third stage, at this time, the product is quite mature, and only needs to be further optimized in some places before it can be published.

 

From: http://www.blogjava.net/RomulusW/archive/2008/05/04/197985.html