Private Beta / Public Beta

[Michael Bulgrien]

The home page still says "Private Beta", but the site is no longer login protected (the whole site, including downloads, is now accessible to the public and I've found my first cached Google hit...the change log from build 440) Also missing from the new web look is the request for beta testers to keep content from this site private, although I assume that the beta is still by invitation only and the URL is still not to be shared by testers. Two questions:

1. I'm just curious: Any guess on how many builds remain before the "official" public beta begins?
2. Do I have permission to share the URL with co-workers using licensed copies of BC2, or do I ask them to e-mail the Scooter team if they are interested?

[Tim]

Good catch. Google must have BetaLog.txt cached from our prior public betas. (I guess I should have at least used a different filename!) The file itself isn't protected, so the search would have found it even before the site redesign.

Since we're getting closer to public release, I'm not as worried about the security of the private group. I dropped the site login to reduce the hassle for beta testers, since we're now also asking everyone to create a vBulletin account.

1. Our goal is a couple more private releases through January, then a mid-to-late February release that is still private but is re-branded as BC3, enables license key protection and includes any remaining settings-breaking changes. We still have a lot of significant work to do, and January has a way of slipping by too fast, but I hope we can stick to this schedule.

2. At this point I still prefer that people go through the signup process and commit to giving feedback. But in appreciation of your efforts, anyone here who has contributed is welcome to share Cirrus with their co-workers.