On Friday, July 30, 1999 07:59, Schlosser, Robert (Contractor)
writes,

> I can understand your concern about patches being available but
folks
> still complaining about the problems. There is one very important
word used to
> describe all the problems addressed, BETA. To me this means that it
is not fully
> tested and not in general release. That also means that you have to
call and ask
> for it. Please understand that some of us are extremely reluctant
to place ANY
> beta software on our systems, so until these patches have been
marked for
> general release, please do not become disheartened, we do
appreciate your hard
> work.

Bob brings up a good point.  All vendors are now releasing "late
beta" software (meaning that it has been tested --- to a point.  If
beta software or patches are going to be used, a small crash 'n burn
machine would probably be in the best interest.

Example:  Microsoft has a defined beta program.  There are 250 people
who receive "Pre Beta" code, then when the beta starts, that number
can swell to 10,000, then successive releases are put out to even
more.  The thing is, we have a crash 'n burn here for the pre beta
stuff, as sure as God made litte green apples, something catastrphic
will happen.  Nothing goes on this laptop until it hits Release
Canadidate status at the very least.

As for HP Beta Patches - our success with them have been favorable...
one or two bad ones, but for the most part, the beta patch we get
usually tends to be the one that gets released, or very close to it.

Regards,
Joe