Dear Group: Is there a beta copy of Windows XP Longhorn I can get? I know beta copies are legal. Right? Thanks! wayne

Dear Group: Also, I did a Computing.Net archive search for 'longhorn' and several dozen articles came up but I did not see any of interest. Any help would be appreciated. wayne

Currently Longhorn is in the Alpha stages. This means that major features of the OS are still under development, and any features currently in the OS will more than likely be changed, added on to, or deleted completly. This is similar in comparison to a house still being biult. Bugs in the alpha biulds can ve very severe. Some may corrupt your file allocation table forcing a reinstall of the OS. Unless you know what you are doing, playing with a alpha OS is like playing russian rouletts with a semi-automatic pistol. A beta OS is one that has had all major features added to it, and is in the process of ironing out the major and minor bugs. Although in early biulds bugs can be fatal to the OS installed, generally after Beta 2, most severe bugs are fixed. Throuought the different stages, the quality of the code is improved to the point where it is considered stable enough to qualify for RTM (Release To Manufacture) canidate status. During the RTM Canadate status, all major crippeling bugs are eliminated, and only a very few minor bugs remain. If there is a major bug found, the bug is fixed and a new biuld is compiled. After they have went through enough release canadates, and eliminated all severe bugs and 99% of minor bugs. When this has been done, the final OS is released to manufacture (RTM). The RTM phase is also known as the Golden version. The Golden version is the version of the software that you see on the retail shelves. This is deployed software that has been througly tested. As for obtaining a beta biuld, you need to have premission from the software developer and copywrite holder to obtain it. If you do not obtain permission, you could be sued for copywrite vioilation, theft, and disclosure of trade secrets.

Dear k_selmer: Thanks for the information. wayne