beta?

burt wrote:

> will someone be so kind to tell me what's the difference between a
> beta antispyware program and just a normal one


It has nothing to do with antispyware programs in particular, but applies to
all software.

"Beta" is short for "beta test version. "Beta test" is a stage in testing a
piece of software; not surprisingly beta testing comes after alpha testing.
Beta testing is usually the stage where the product is released to end users
to widen the scope of testing.

So, by definition, a beta version of a program is unfinished, and can be
assumed to have bugs in it. It often has *many* bugs in it, and could
possibly crash the entire computer and destroy whatever is on it.. As a
general rule, it's very foolish for end users to run any beta software
unless they have a separate computer to run it on--one that doesn't bother
them if the machine crashes and they have to reinstall everything on it.

If you're asking about the Microsoft Antispyware beta, all of the above
applies. However there is one difference: Microsoft didn't develop the
product themseleves but bought it from a company called Giant. They are now
modifying and improving it. So it can reasonably be assumed that even in its
initial beta release, it was more stable than most beta software. *However*
that doesn't eliminate the risks in running beta software. At most it
diminishes the risk somewhat.

As always, when you run any beta software, this or any other, you do it at
your own risk, and you should be aware of the possibility that it can
destroy everything on your computer.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup