vB4 Development Update

By way of dev update, there are two major tasks remaining before we release the vB Forums for alpha testing: * *Finish porting the new vB4 style into templates.* In terms of developer-hours, this is the largest single task of the project, and because of the natural flow of development, it happens to come at the very end. * *Pre-alpha regression testing.* The alpha release is the earliest point at which a build is usable without major problems, so this round of testing is to make sure that the release doesn't just fall over as soon as it's installed. Alpha will proceed in two phases: Forums first, then the full Suite. Beta will probably also be phased, but we are leaving ourselves the option of starting beta for Forums and Suite at the same time if it makes sense to do so. Also, thanks to the hundreds of you who have applied to participate in beta testing, and especially for following the application instructions so closely. (For those who have tried email, voice mail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, carrier pigeons and smoke signals, you get props for creativity, but please help me out and see my previous post (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311075).) In answer to a few FAQs: *When will pricing and licensing be announced?* When all of the details are worked out. (I know it seems like it should be easy, but trust me on this, it's harder than it looks.) This will be near the time of the gold release. *When will that be?* As soon as possible, but my best estimate at the moment is August, hopefully early in the month. Yes, we were hoping to be able to release before the end of Q2, but while everyone has been working hard and fast, we're committed to take the time necessary to get it right before releasing. We know you expect nothing less. :-) *Hurry up! Move Faster! No, wait, take your time! Make it better!* There are currently more people working on vBulletin that at any time in the product's history, and the pace is intense. We are moving as fast as a software project of this size can move. In parallel with the template porting describe above, we have decided to also take some extra time to beef up some aspects of the CMS, which we feel is a wise investment of time. More to come as events unfold...

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