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Perpetual beta is a term used to describe a software or system which is always in a testing phase. Typically, it is used only by developers in order to test out the newest features; perpetual beta software is not recommended for mission-critical machines. Image File history File links Blue_question_mark. ... A screenshot of computer software running in Windows XP. Software is a program that enables a computer to perform a specific task, as opposed to the physical components of the system (hardware). ... System (from the Latin (systēma), and this from the Greek (sustēma)) is an assemblage of entity/objects, real or abstract, comprising a whole with each and every component/element interacting or related to another one. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ...

Like most technical concepts, new frames or modes for using the concept germinate and take root in parallel arenas of thought. Perpetual beta is no exception to this mutability of technical application and language. Perpetual beta has come to be associated with the development and release of a service in which constant updates are the foundation for the habitability/usability of a service. Recently, Web 2.0 Guru Tim O'Reilly touched on this concept in his Sept 30th, 2005 article: Web 2. ... Tim OReilly at the MIX06 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada Tim OReilly (born 1954, Cork, Ireland) is the founder of OReilly Media (formerly OReilly & Associates) and supporter of the free software and open source movements. ...

"[1] Users must be treated as co-developers, in a reflection of open source development practices (even if the software in question is unlikely to be released under an open source license.) The open source dictum, "release early and release often" in fact has morphed into an even more radical position, "the perpetual beta," in which the product is developed in the open, with new features slipstreamed in on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. It's no accident that services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Flickr, del.icio.us, and the like may be expected to bear a "Beta" logo for years at a time."

Used in the larger conversation of what defines a Web 2.0 habitat in relation to the Web 1.0, O'Reilly re-set the concept of perpetual beta in light of a more customized Internet environment with these applications as distinguishing characteristics:

* Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability * Control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them * Trusting users as co-developers * Harnessing collective intelligence * Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service * Software above the level of a single device * Lightweight user interfaces, development models, AND business models.