I hate Google

Well, I use Google all the time, but I really hate one of the things it did for software and the web.

My hate stems from one word, “beta”. Now last I looked beta software was that which was still in testing and therefore not really for a full public release. It could/will have bugs, it could make your machine crash, it could even cause loss of data. In fact, it could really mess things up.

Now a few years ago when Google starting playing around with all its little search ideas such as mail, videos, blogs etc they decided to re-define what beta should mean for the software industry. So to Google “beta” means “cool”, “up-to-date”, “fun”, “new”, “fresh” and even “unique”.

Now this little redefine wasn’t much of a problem when just Google used it because Google only develops stuff that is web based (with a few minor exceptions). All of its applications can’t really do much to the average home machine.

The problem really came because Google didn’t just define it for itself, it defined it for everyone wanting to release anything in the next few years, such as Microsoft. This means that MS has to release all of its software in beta first (making them very publicly known) just so people still think they are “fresh and “cool”.

Now we should really all know that MS beta’s should be kept to just those who actually test stuff, people on the MSDN who have a machine or two just for testing stuff. Testing should not be done by everyone, otherwise what’s the point of distinguishing it from release versions?

I myself got caught by this a little over a year ago when I installed a .NET 2 beta which buggered my COM+ (and is resulting in the reinstall next week (I haven’t had the time to do a full reinstall before next week)).

My current complaint is the “Windows Live” beta which it seems everyone is downloading and installing without a clue as to what beta really means (and it’s not like anyone reads the terms and conditions). In fact, even my 11year old brother downloaded and installed it on the main family machine after one of his friends told him about it. I Then removed it, put MSN back on and knocked his account back to user (he needed to be admin a while ago and I hadn’t changed him back).

I hate the system as it stands because people don’t know what’s to expect and so I (or some other person with a clue) ends up picking up the pieces and explaining what beta really is. I wish Google, MS and all the rest of them would grow up and stop trying to make the whole IT industry more approachable. There always have to be some bits which are a no-go area for everyone but those in the industry.