Our company are beta testers for a geotechnical graphical database which we use to record all our geotechnical data taken from site. Without this software we cannot function. I had to think long and herd about this, weighing up the benefits / down sides before I recomended we went with it. Our industry has whats called Liquidated Damages, where you may have to pay £300/£400/£500 A DAY for every day you are late with your report to your client!
Benefits:- we get about £4000 of software for free, we also get some of the best technical support in the software world, and we get it there and then (well, within reason, depending upon how nasty the bugs are that we find
) We (I) get to request features that suit us (I think that at the last count, the software now incorporates 16 features / functions that I have asked for). The software is also updated at least once a month (both beat and shrinkwrap), sometimes with maintenance releases and sometimes adding new features / functions.
Down side:- If we do come across a bug (or in Microsoft terms, a feature) we are stuffed till its fixed. Also I'm constantly having to update our input and output to take into account new features and functions. (Not like if you bought the shrinkwrap version, where its all there for you in one go)
My point is, If you choose to use a beta version of a piece of software professionally, don't do it lightly. If you do choose to go down that route, you MUST realise that there will be times when its a pain in the arse, when things don't work (or they do work but give results that were not expected) At the end of the dat TGTP is a beta, if you don't like that, then don't use it for anything mission critical unless you are prepared for delays etc. As with any other piece of software, I would rater have a stable, workable shrinkwrap, than one that is released on time but is full of bugs (sorry, features
)
Miles