Does Corel considers a public beta for PaintShop Pro X7?

[Radim]

After years,

more and more companies have problem release every year a new version of software with new and useful features
and offer to a wide spectrum of potential users to say something about it.

What you think?

Will a public beta help Corel get better NEW PSP X7?

[BrianCee]

not quite sure what your suggesting - Corel already carry out quite extensive beta testing of new products and several members of this very forum take part - how would a PUBLIC beta be different - except spread the word to the whole world before the product was ready for release..

[bananahead]

Yes a public beta would be a great idea.

They always have problems with PSP releases.

[LeviFiction]

It's hard to say if a public beta would be a hinderance or a boon.

Would many love it? Yes. Would it work best for Corel? Well what makes a public beta effective?

I've only seen public betas on games and OSs and even those are limited. Do we have any good examples of software the size of PSP using an open beta? And nightly builds on the GIMP don't technically count.

What sort of underlying communication, reporting, and checking systems would be necessary? How many developers are on an effective open beta team? Can Corel supply the level of support necessary to make an open beta effective? In many ways during the closed betas communication has not been Corel's strongest point. But so long as they're working hard and producing results that's not that bad.

And how long do you work with an open beta? Should they start closed and end open? How much time do you give? They can't fix all problems reported as is within the current time limit. And they may not be able to fix the problems reported by a much larger group of people within the time necessary to make the current pricing model effective? And would an open beta potentially eat into their profit margins making it ineffective?

On the forum, it's all opinion. Only Corel has the facts on their company and how they could potentially work. And so far they've opted for a fairly large number of beta testers with a wide range of systems. Closed though it may be. I would love to hear from Corel on this specifically to see if it's ever been considered. But here, it's kind of a wasted discussion.

[bananahead]

Corel ran an open beta for ASP last year

http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=48132


And as for all of this junk about this simply being a user to user forum, well Corel have said that they do watch the forums but do not engage in discussions so they will see this at some point.

[brucet]

Public beta testing in itself is a great idea. But limiting it to 'just' bug detection would not be possible IMHO. Have a look at the wish lists for the next version. Now add beta testers putting their 2 cents worth in at the same time. And then there is the divided opinions on what is a 'bug'. Just because something doesn't work as you perceive it should doesn't mean it's a bug.

A small group of trusted testers would be much easier from Corels perspective.

regards

[LindaSue]

Jasc used to have a public beta test for PSP in the old days after the private beta testing was done. I participated in both a couple of times. I seem to recall that the public beta testing was pretty short, maybe a week perhaps, and I'm not sure if it accomplished anything that hadn't already been done by us private beta testers.