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anonymous 6 January 2003

How do I become a beta tester?
I use SonicFoundry(VEGAS-ACID-SF 6.0),
Wavelab 4.0, Nuendo, Cool-Edit Pro 2.0,
Cakewalk'S (SonarXL 2.0-Plasma-CW 9.0).

Id appreciate any resposne you might have

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Opus2000 Tue, 01/07/2003 - 15:54

To become a beta tester you have to contact the company or know someone who knows someone that can get you in. Also having some reputation with the company is good as well. I got into beta testing due to the fact that I worked for Sweetwater at the time and was very good at making things break and figuring out why it did that. From there the oppurtunities fell into my lap. I can tell you right now that beta testing has it's downfalls. Your constantly troubleshooting and not creating. It does put a damper on your creativity in many ways.
Also just being a simple user isn't really going to get you in as a beta tester unless the company in question is desperate for beta testers in general.
You never know till you try though. Also answer yoriks questions about why you want to become one? Is it merely for free software? If so don't think that way as you will only get beta software and a discount on the full version in the future.
Also do you want to beta test hardware or software ot both?
Opus

anonymous Wed, 01/08/2003 - 05:13

Well Opus pretty much summed it up. Beta testing is not fun. If you are working in a formal environment, it can even get quite stressful as you get closer and closer to release deadlines. When I mean formal, you work in teams, with specific scripts that allow you to go through all the functions in a logical manner. It is a job that requires a temperament that deals well with frustration. It can be very tedious, and as Opus said, does nothing for your creativity. Remember, as far as the company is concerned, they don't want to know how great the software features are. You will be looking for flaws in the programming. At the beginning of the testing cycle it's much easier to find the problems. You have to be able to reproduce them and meticulously detail the steps of how you got there, so that the programmer can go back and find the offending lines of code.

However, it gets progressively harder as you go through the cycles. Sometimes it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Then when you find it, you've got to go and find it again, or your work means nothing. You know how frustrating it is to have your computer crash constantly. Well, you spend your time trying to purposely do that.

There are situations where you work in what I call informal situations. This is cheaper for a software manufacturer as they give out beta copies to a number of independent users who then bang away on the software. The hope is that with a sufficient number of people looking, most bugs can be found due to the testing force being greater. But these are usually unpaid positions, where you will get a deal on the software, but also the satisfaction of being on the front lines.

So, if you still feel compelled to do this, as Opus said, you kind of have to know people. You could just apply to a company, but I imagine they would want to see some evidence of you doing this before.

Hope I haven't sounded too gloomy. At the other end, there is a great satisfaction in helping stabilize a product for release.

Peace. :c:

audiokid Wed, 01/08/2003 - 18:20

http://www.PSPaudioware.com is looking for a few responsible people interested in joining their betatesters team. They are currently looking for people who work with Pro Tools on a Mac. If this interests you, reply to this topic (not me)

(Dead Link Removed)

and Antoni Ozynski from PSPaudioware.com will chime in and possibly contact you. As far as I know it's not a paying job but who knows what kind of fun you could have. They are designing some nice stuff.

:c:

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