>> But the concept of a very restricted beta to keep bug counts down is a serious problem!!! <<

That is a different issue from the one I was addressing. If I misunderstood your point before, my apologies. All I can say to this one is it is a serious problem if true, but isn't it a little theoretical? At least I hope you aren't accusing Microsoft (or anyone else) of doing this. There is a big difference between restricting a beta tightly to keep bug counts down and opening it up to the whole world. Ken has already explained why they don't want to open it up to the whole world (resources).

Mike