Explainer

Pre-release software

Pre-release software is still under development and testing. It may contain bugs and missing features. Sometimes, pre-release software includes experimental features.

Availability

Pre-release software is not generally available. We offer pre-release software to selected users.

Want to test pre-release software?

Reach out to us! Make sure to mention if there is a specific experimental feature that you are interested in.

Support

We offer limited support for pre-release software. We can not guarantee to address issues in a timely manner.

Use released software to full support. We fix issues in a timely manner (sometimes same-day fixes) for released software.

How to install pre-release software

The procedure is the same as regular software releases. See Update BactoBox® software.

Installing an alpha or beta version? Create a backup first!

Create a backup before you install pre-release software. This ensures that your data is safe from any bugs in the pre-release software.

Alpha, beta, and release candidate

At SBT, pre-release software goes through an alpha, beta, and release candidate phase. The corresponding software version uses this terminology. Examples:

v2026.02-alpha.7
v2026.02-beta.3
v2026.02-rc.5 (rc is short for release candidate)

Once development and testing is done, the final software version looks something like v2026.02 . Sometimes, we issue a hotfix version such as v2026.02a .