The process of field testing new hardware or software products before the product's commercial or formal release. Beta testing is usually done by a cross-section of users, not just programmers. The purpose of beta testing is to expose the new product to as many real-life operating conditions as possible.
If the beta tests indicate a higher-than-expected number of bugs, the developer usually fixes the problems and sends the product out again for another round of beta testing. Preliminary versions of the product documentation are also circulated for review during the beta testing.
See also alpha testing.