Alpha Release
- An early version provided to users.
- Often offered to a limited group of users.
- Features and specifications are still in development and may change or be discontinued without notice.
Beta Release
- A test version provided to users.
- In some cases, offered to a limited group of users.
- The main goal is to gather user feedback for the official release.
- Features and specifications are not yet final and may change or be discontinued without notice.
Official Release
- The final product version, made available to all customers.
- Intended for stable operation, so major changes to features or specifications won't happen.
Experimental Release
- A version of a feature or service for testing purposes, not intended to become a product.
- Usually offered to all users, but it's not an official release.
- Unlike a Beta release, there's no official release planned for it.
- Specifications may change or the service may be discontinued without notice.
Release Flow (image)
For example, the following flows can be assumed.
Path 1: alpha → beta → official
Path2: alpha → experimental