CompuServe Messages

Several reasons: 1. They can test their software/hardware on it…in particular software that used to work on 1.3 and now doesn't work on 1.4 to find out why. 2. They're generally more familiar with how things should work, and thus why they don't work if there's a bug in the OS. 3. To give them an opportunity to insure their software will be ready when the OS is released. 4. Beta releases have to be limited, general release would be disastrous. 5. Many users, blame problems on the OS, when the real problem is in what the user is doing. Again, developers supposedly can differentiate between the two types of problems. 6. Developers pay for the privledge.