# What are some examples of popular software perpetually in beta? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-examples-of-popular-software-perpetually-in-beta/663717 "2013-07-17T02:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aaelghat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c5a1d2/32.png) [@aaelghat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaelghat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-examples-of-popular-software-perpetually-in-beta/663717/1 "2013-07-17T02:13:35Z")
I’m thinking of software that was released as a “beta”, that was in a beta for years - mostly so that if consumers complained about it, the manufacturer could just say “it’s just a beta”. The only example I can think of is Siri for the iPhone. From what I recall, it was included in iOS, was used by millions of people, but was technically a classified as a beta by Apple. Are there other examples of popular software used by millions of people that is technically in beta? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-examples-of-popular-software-perpetually-in-beta/663717/2 "2013-07-17T02:31:59Z")
I would think the canonical modern example is Gmail. Introduced April 1, 2004, it didn’t leave beta until July 2009. Back in the day, Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox had a pretty protracted beta cycle that had a rather large number of users. I recall switching myself around the time of Firebird 0.7, which would have been late 2003, and it already had a lot of momentum at that point (it had already taken a pretty big chunk of users from the Mozilla suite, later to be known as SeaMonkey). Firefox 1.0 wasn’t released until a year later, in November 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-examples-of-popular-software-perpetually-in-beta/663717/3 "2013-07-17T03:21:11Z")
Minecraft Pocket Edition is still in _alpha_. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-examples-of-popular-software-perpetually-in-beta/663717/4 "2013-07-17T09:12:15Z")
Wasn’t HijackThis at version .99 forever, until TrendMicro bought it out? ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-examples-of-popular-software-perpetually-in-beta/663717/5 "2013-07-18T13:07:38Z")
This only kind of qualifies, but the program [AnyDVD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AnyDVD) constantly has to be updated to keep up with new DVD releases. Therefore, once or twice a month they will have an official, “stable” version ending in a .0. The latest “stable” version is 7.2.3.0, released July 16. But in the next few days, to keep up with new DVD’s, they might have a 7.2.3.1 beta, then a few days later a 7.2.3.2 beta, etc. that’s not extensively tested but at least out there, and then eventually you’ll get a 7.2.4.0 that’s once again “stable”. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-examples-of-popular-software-perpetually-in-beta/663717/6 "2013-07-18T16:19:41Z")
Google Maps is technically still in “Beta” or at least it says so when you first lauinch it on any smartphone.