This is the main page for the BETA Test program of the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client. Currently, there is a public BETA version available, version 2.16 Preview Release 1. This is actually an interim release, but since it's not an official release, I've added it here.
Public BETAs are pre-release versions of the client available to everyone. Normally, these BETAs will be provided only in source code form, and will probably contain several bugs. Public BETAs are made so that users can see where the client is going, what new features will be available, etc. These versions will be fairly stable, as in we believe they won't bring your system to a complete halt, and won't crash often. These are generallly considered to be near-release quality, but missing various features (or parts of features) and/or functionality. They're also released without documentation on new features.
Private BETAs are pre-release versions of the client released to only a select few testers. These versions are generallly not of high quality, and could crash a user's system. These versions are given to the private testers so that someone besides the authors can look for bugs. Often, Ayourk and I will miss various bugs because we fail to see how a user might try to use a feature. By letting the private testers know about the feature, they can try it in several (often wrong) ways, and report to us how it works or doesn't work for them. This also lets new ideas for features be improved to something more desirable and useful.
If you think that being a private BETA tester sounds neat, or fun, you're wrong, and you won't be selected. Being a private BETA tester is a lot of work, and often involves sending reports that simply tell us something works. One must extensively and repetitively test the same things. It's usually very boring. I don't screen private BETA testers, but instead take them on a first-come, first-serve basis for each project. Anyone who doesn't live up to my standards is removed from the program immediately. As an example, I accepted 15 private BETA testers for the MacOS port. Of those, only 6 were not dropped after the first 3 versions sent to them. Those who were not dropped were wonderful examples of what makes a good private BETA tester. Each of them responded as soon as they got the program, answered the questions I needed answered, and provided insight into what was good, and what was bad.
Since we don't have anything in private BETA at this time, we don't need any testers. Please check here later for more.