R – “Points to Consider” before releasing a .NET Product Beta

betaproductrelease

I am planning to release a .NET product as Beta in the next couple of weeks. I want to know what points should be considered before releasing a product. I think the following needs to be taken care of:

  1. Professional Icons/Splash and About screens
  2. Obfuscation of assemblies
  3. Sign the assemblies – Strong Name
  4. Professional Security Certificate (Verisign/Thwate) – Authenticode signing assemblies
  5. Google AdWords, AdSense and Analytics
  6. Writing blogs etc about the application features
  7. A way to get bug/features from BETA users

Basically the question is how to release an effective BETA and make my product popular?

Best Answer

The question

how to release an effective BETA and make my product popular?

has little to do with all the points you stated.

It is 95% marketing thing than technical.

But I would consider the most important ones for Betas:

  1. Easy way to submit bug-reports/feature request (2 clicks, no more; 1 minute of user's time).
  2. Usability.
  3. Product demos to get started easily.

The first is crucial as it will give you the first feedback on the application.

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