(Beta Program) 2.1 seems perfect, but here's what Apple should do for next updates

[M. Malone]

2.1 seems to be perfect (I still wish sms app loads instantly when clicked instead of the few seconds of load, no big deal though)

but it's a major step and seems perfect.

What I would like is if Apple starts a beta program. 2.1 is great, but the road to 2.1 has been a painful one to all of us users. It would be nice if Apple worked with volunteers to test its firmwares before releasing them to the general public.

As far as many users are concerned, 2.x firmwares have been betas until 2.1.

If there was a way that Apple could have told users know to hold off until 2.1, I'm sure many would have waited on 1.1.4, I would have waited. But what happened was that I was sucked into the 2.0 trap, then hoped 2.0.1 would be the fix, which was worse, and then I went along with 2.0.2.

I learned a lesson, and I'm not updating from 2.1 only until most people on these boards are happy with the newer update.

Apple can really avoid the bad publicity by having their new firmware available but give it beta status instead of forcing all users to be beta testers which is CLEARLY what happened in 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.0.2.

 

[Mikey B]

They kind of do- the Dev Program. It costs $99, but you do get to beta test firmware updates. Thousands of devs are in the program. I think perhap Apple should be more vigilant in gathering feedback from the devs purely on stability and functionality of their FW upgrades.

 

[sibruk]

Apple already have thousands of beta users - their own employees. Considering that, it's quite astonishing that they released 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 in the state they were in.