1. software that has not yet been released but has received an alpha test and still has more bugs than a regular release; - Example: "beta software is usually available only to particular users who will test it"
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
beta software
n 1: software that has not yet been released but has received an
alpha test and still has more bugs than a regular release;
"beta software is usually available only to particular
users who will test it"