A beta version or beta release represents the first version of the software that has passed system testing and regression testing. These tests occurred were performed in a test environment using hardware and data constructed for the purposes of testing. The beta build is now ready for a beta test, in which it is tested through a limited roll-out to a production environment using live data and real users. The beta test is closely monitored by the software testers.
Some development teams use the term beta informally to denote build of the software that is stable enough to be useful for internal demonstrations and previews to select customers, but not yet ready for release. Some developers refer to this stage as a preview, as a technical preview (TP) or as an early access. Often this stage begins when the developers announce a feature freeze on the product, indicating that no more features will be added to this version of the product and only software issues, or bugs, will be removed. Beta versions stand at an intermediate step in the full development cycle. Developers release them to a group of beta testers (sometimes the general public) for a user test. The testers report any bugs that they found and sometimes minor features they would like to see in the final version.
When a beta becomes available to the general public it is often widely used by the technologically savvy and those familiar with previous versions as though it were the finished product. Usually developers of freeware or open-source betas release them to the general public while proprietary betas go to a relatively small group of testers. In February 2005, ZDNet published an article about the recent phenomenon of a beta version often staying for years and being used as if it were in production-level. It notes that Gmail and Google News, for example, have been in beta for a long period of time and are not expected to drop the beta status despite the fact that they have been widely used. This technique may also allow a developer to delay offering full support and/or responsibility for remaining issues. Recipients of highly proprietary betas may have to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
As the second major stage in the development cycle, following the alpha stage, it is named after the Greek letter beta, the second letter in the Greek alphabet