Remember that Apple had the OS X 10.0 public beta before. Microsoft, as far as I can remember, had a public beta of Windows Vista, and more recently had a free public beta of Windows 8 and the 8.1 upgrade.
The only problem I see with a public beta is the communication restrictions Apple is wanting to impose in the disclaimers. The reason for public beta's (In the case of Microsoft anyway) is to have enthusiast try the software out, test stability, and send feedback. People are going to talk, share ideas, post videos, etc. As Command_F pointed out, this very exact thing is happening in WP 8.1 (Cortana is awesome by the way!), but there is no disclosure restrictions in using the beta. We can share screenshots, show videos, of not only the phone but of the Dev bits as well. I would load up my mini with the OSX beta if I could share and talk about it openly. Maybe I'll test in a VM to see the bugs
I wonder if Apple is planning something unique with Mac OS X — like moving it to ARM so they can sell $750 Macs with a reasonable profit margin — that is pushing them to set up a larger beta program for the future.
The only problem I see with a public beta is the communication restrictions Apple is wanting to impose in the disclaimers. The reason for public beta's (In the case of Microsoft anyway) is to have enthusiast try the software out, test stability, and send feedback. People are going to talk, share ideas, post videos, etc. As Command_F pointed out, this very exact thing is happening in WP 8.1 (Cortana is awesome by the way!), but there is no disclosure restrictions in using the beta. We can share screenshots, show videos, of not only the phone but of the Dev bits as well. I would load up my mini with the OSX beta if I could share and talk about it openly. Maybe I'll test in a VM to see the bugs
I don't remember the last time any developer Beta did not make the tech forums rounds within any hour of being released. This will not change anything in that respect but perhaps make Mac OS X better for having more testers.
I hope it does apply to major OS versions - maybe then Apple would get some non-techie feeback about usability issues. (notice that the program asks for feedback on "quality and usability issues").
A major problem with Apple software now is that it seems the people who design it never use it - remember the "Save As..." annoyance, when Apple changed it out of the blue? It still isn't as useful to a lot of us as it used to be. Preview's cropping tool isn't as good as it was under Tiger - when you undid a crop, it left the old crop marks there, so you could adjust it a pixel or two if you wanted. Now when you uncrop you have to start over (at least in Snow Leopard). There are dozens of usability issues that techies will never find, but those of us who actually use the software could comment on before it's finalized. I wish they'd extend the program to other software, like iTunes, iMovie, Final Cut X, etc. - maybe they would avoid some of the problems they've had. I know that's too much to ask, though.
I'm really hoping Jony Ive makes a major push toward usability. Apple engineers seem to want to change useful things just because they can (and in the process they've made many things less useful, and they've taken away choices). There should be more choices, more flexibility.
You've been able to give feedback to Apple for a long time. Your post is redundant.
I hope it does apply to major OS versions - maybe then Apple would get some non-techie feeback about usability issues. (notice that the program asks for feedback on "quality and usability issues").
A major problem with Apple software now is that it seems the people who design it never use it - remember the "Save As..." annoyance, when Apple changed it out of the blue? It still isn't as useful to a lot of us as it used to be. Preview's cropping tool isn't as good as it was under Tiger - when you undid a crop, it left the old crop marks there, so you could adjust it a pixel or two if you wanted. Now when you uncrop you have to start over (at least in Snow Leopard). There are dozens of usability issues that techies will never find, but those of us who actually use the software could comment on before it's finalized. I wish they'd extend the program to other software, like iTunes, iMovie, Final Cut X, etc. - maybe they would avoid some of the problems they've had. I know that's too much to ask, though.
I'm really hoping Jony Ive makes a major push toward usability. Apple engineers seem to want to change useful things just because they can (and in the process they've made many things less useful, and they've taken away choices). There should be more choices, more flexibility.
I really agree with this. But for the most part major design decisions (and mistakes) can't and won't be fixed in the beta stage. This is where boring little bugs will be discovered and sent off to Apple's developer monkeys to be squashed. I wouldn't get your hopes up that the public will get early access to major new versions of OS X (unfortunately).
If you look at some of the recent "failures" it's where Apple has deliberately pushed beta software out to the public but not identified it as such. I'm thinking Apple Maps, the new iWork and even FCP X initially. FCP X seems like it was being developed well, but was just unfinished with too many missing features when it launched. The other two however left me scratching my head that there are the right people in place to manage those projects. They seemed so off the mark, executed and delivered.
Comments
Alright, edited away some speculation, since the FAQ actually answers a lot of questions. The rest remains to be seen.
Remember that Apple had the OS X 10.0 public beta before. Microsoft, as far as I can remember, had a public beta of Windows Vista, and more recently had a free public beta of Windows 8 and the 8.1 upgrade.
Nowhere near a billion, of course, but I don’t know how insignificant we could say that amount is…
I don't remember the last time any developer Beta did not make the tech forums rounds within any hour of being released. This will not change anything in that respect but perhaps make Mac OS X better for having more testers.
You've been able to give feedback to Apple for a long time. Your post is redundant.
I hope it does apply to major OS versions - maybe then Apple would get some non-techie feeback about usability issues. (notice that the program asks for feedback on "quality and usability issues").
A major problem with Apple software now is that it seems the people who design it never use it - remember the "Save As..." annoyance, when Apple changed it out of the blue? It still isn't as useful to a lot of us as it used to be. Preview's cropping tool isn't as good as it was under Tiger - when you undid a crop, it left the old crop marks there, so you could adjust it a pixel or two if you wanted. Now when you uncrop you have to start over (at least in Snow Leopard). There are dozens of usability issues that techies will never find, but those of us who actually use the software could comment on before it's finalized. I wish they'd extend the program to other software, like iTunes, iMovie, Final Cut X, etc. - maybe they would avoid some of the problems they've had. I know that's too much to ask, though.
I'm really hoping Jony Ive makes a major push toward usability. Apple engineers seem to want to change useful things just because they can (and in the process they've made many things less useful, and they've taken away choices). There should be more choices, more flexibility.
I really agree with this. But for the most part major design decisions (and mistakes) can't and won't be fixed in the beta stage. This is where boring little bugs will be discovered and sent off to Apple's developer monkeys to be squashed. I wouldn't get your hopes up that the public will get early access to major new versions of OS X (unfortunately).
If you look at some of the recent "failures" it's where Apple has deliberately pushed beta software out to the public but not identified it as such. I'm thinking Apple Maps, the new iWork and even FCP X initially. FCP X seems like it was being developed well, but was just unfinished with too many missing features when it launched. The other two however left me scratching my head that there are the right people in place to manage those projects. They seemed so off the mark, executed and delivered.
You've been able to give feedback to Apple for a long time. Your post is redundant.
Um, not on unreleased versions of OS X as a non-developer?