Ive sent request to betareq@microsoft.com and haent got anything but the auto replyer

Is there any way to submit bug reports to Microsoft anonymously? Even if I'm not in the official beta team and I happen to come across a built in the newsgroups I'd be happy to submit bugs and quirks.

Beta testing for any company is a privelage. Though it is a lot of work, and you don't always find the Atlantis of bugs, you will find a few. You get to see the software before everyone else does. Given there is always a warez factor, majority of the time it's filled with trojans or isn't even what it claims to be. I've downloaded the XP 2600 build, and it was simply a renamed 24xx something build. You have a choice. You can sit outside the Redmond Base with an a sign that says 'Down with Smart Tags' or you can become a tester and help change those Smart Tags to be better. Carpe Diem! I know that phrase is outrageously overused, but it does fit. Go out there and make a change, or don't bother whining.

- ports

majority of the time? because people can download stuff from Kazaa or something does not make them an expert, nor does it qualify "a mojority" of what is out there as being infected. I am not trying to condone warez or anything, I just find your overly cautious and paranoid propaganda laden fearmongering funny ;) Get off Kazaa and you will see how wrong you are.

Even if I want to get one...
looking at myself from outside..
probably Microsoft isn't going to give it to me
haha.. if I were like the person who decide, I wouldn't give it to myself.

has anyone received the nomination notice, filled it out and actually heard back? if so, how long did it take once you filled it out before you received notification that you are in? i received my nomination invite yesterday but havent yet received any word.

When and where did they have this invite. I did Office 10 last year, its very sad not to be able to join the Office 11 team. But where do they usually have invites for these programs?

I think it would be very cool and exciting becoming an official Microsoft Beta Tester!!
So you get the chance to test the newest Software and thats a very cool thing, i think!!

BIG B

You would think it is cool but it just gets annoying when the Warez world gets a build 2 weeks before the Officel Testers do!! Also it isn't easy, you have to do alot of reporting back to Microsoft. If you don't work hard and report bugs you won't be asked again, basically you get black-listed. It isn't just getting software earlier than others because you tend to get it AFTER.

i received an invite via email to fill out a self nomination form explaining why i am interested in joining. the message also stated that they would only notify me if i was selected.... i gave them my reasons. this was wednesday afternoon. if i dont here from them by monday, then i assume that my reasons were insufficient. i too was on the office 10 team and submitted around 30 bug reports and received a full copy of office xp for my efforts. i bet 30 simply isnt enough feedback. we shall see.

Well, if you are beta testing just to get some free stuff, you will be disappointed. Oh, you'll get your free software and maybe a t-s*** in the deal - after hours of downloading, installing, trouble-shooting, uninstalling and generally pounding at the builds for a few months, putting up with countless crashes and all the while risking botching your system.

However, it can be a fun experience, and you get to see new features and internal design changes before anyone else. And you have the satisfaction of knowing you've helped improve that product, and that your name is in the credits inside an easter egg, somewhere.

Well, if you get blacklisted for not saying things, what if you only happened to find one bug they couldn't reproduce on their own? A few other people hit the same error with some of the hotfixes that were SP3 related as well.

From experience with the Win2000 SP3 beta test, I put it on a running web & terminal server that was doing perl, mySQL, Exchange 2000, file & print serving, & being a DC all at the same time and I *never* had the d*mn thing crash, BSOD, or anything.... Guess I'm the "unlucky" beta tester...no bugs for me.

I guess I can forget applying for any more MS betas in the future...

It's not a blacklist. If you don't submit *any* bugs, you are removed from the beta program. Simple as that.

If you can't reproduce a bug everyone else is having, fine, but if you offer little or no input, you are not beta testing, and therefore will be taken off the beta testing program.

If you did your beta work, you get your free software and t-s***, and they will invite you again to test future products. Sounds fair, you've proven yourself that you can test their software and they already have your contact info, so it is only natural to dip into your pool of beta testing veterans than to find new testers.

Actually, I found no bugs in the Win 2k SP3 beta... however, if you installed all the builds, submit all the surveys, that was sufficient for the beta, as I recieved the SP3 on a CD after the beta ended.

Most of the time, the survery's hold more weight, because they learn what is happening as a new build is installed. If it doesn't install on a majority of systems, as learned by the install surveys, then there's a major problem in Redmond.

You can also request to be removed from a beta if you don't have the time to do it, and they do not hold that against you.

As for those that only want to test to get the final product for free, hopefully they don't accept you, becuase when you are accepted you agree that you don't expect any "gifts" at the end of the beta.