I've worked for 20+ years in the software industry for companies big and small producing shrinkwrap software. For a significant portion of that time have been involved in the setup and management of software QA teams. Here are a few traits from my experience which differentiate a good beta tester.(In no particular order)The best beta testers:- actually use the beta software.- actively participate in providing feedback, good and bad.- provide accurate and concise reports with adequate information to be able to reproduce any issues found.- report their feedback dispassionately with no bias.- undertand how any issues they report fit into the overall "big picture" of the product with relation to the priority, severity and scope of it i.e. put things in appropriate perspective.- test adopting the "personna(s)" of the representative majority of end user customers of the product i.e. they understand that the product is not just for the "power users" or "hardcore" minority.- understand that beta software implies incomplete, and that also, versions they receive will at times break previous operational functionality, may degrade/improve functionality in some areas, etc., and that one particular beta is not representative of what the final release version will look like or perform.- do not stop testing if they do run into a blocking issue in one small area of the product, but continue to test across the breadth and depth of the entire product.- understand their role within the product life-cycle, they appreciate that they are not there to define the product specifications or marketing goals, they are not there to determine the decision on the release criteria for features - quality - time, they are there to assist in validating the product under potential customer environments and how well it meets the overall goals for the product release.- point no fingers, and make no judgements, on the developers and other beta testers.- strictly comply with NDAs or other beta testing guidelines as supplied, this includes not only during the active testing but afterwards as well.- understand that they should not expect communication on their feedback or issues they report unless further clarification is required.- do not expect any financial or other practical reward for their particpation.- have some formal/professional background in software testing.- can spot "ant sh%t" in salt (but also know that it won't kill you, see comment on perspective above).Jeff

Hi all;Good posts, Jeff, Holger and Allcott; many thanks. Phil - you have the patience of Job. I'll bet you could herd cats.Brian G - please - you and the other mods ought to kill these poisonous posts the instant they become - even semi - personal. The continuous, disrespectful slagging of the Microsoft developer team by people who have no concept of the IT world has no place in the Avsim forums. Reading this and other similar threads like it utterly RUINS the end of my day, when I get home from looking after a whacking great ERP system and a team of twenty-odd developers and dba's: I imagine there's more than a few others who feel this way too. pj's 2cents.