Dear Microsoft Update Beta tester,

My name is Eric Brodish, Beta Coordinator for the upcoming Microsoft Update Service Pack 1 Beta Program. I am delighted at the opportunity to work with you on the continuation of improvements to our update processes.

To recap, the Microsoft Update (MU) Beta Program ended earlier this year and the MU and Windows Update v6 (WU) sites are operational. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who participated. Your feedback on troubleshooting, site usability and general fit and finish (to name a few) helped to deliver WU/MU on time and at high quality.

As we look forward to 2006, our first beta program is for MU Sp1. In preparing for this new beta, we have moved from Betaplace to http://connect.microsoft.com, and as a previous beta participant, we have nominated you to join this program (which will also put you on our list for future beta programs). The nomination process is straightforward, and includes basic registration information, and a survey to give us some demographic data on our beta community.

After joining the new MU Beta Program, you will receive more information about the Microsoft Update (MU) Site Service Pack 1 Beta.

As always, we value your continued participation in Microsoft beta programs.
I will ensure that any comments you make for improving the beta experience will be closely evaluated by the MU beta team.

Again, thank you, and I look forward to working closely with you soon on this beta!

Warm regards,
Eric Brodish, Beta Coordinator

Dear Microsoft Update beta tester,

The SP1 beta is live! You can now log into Microsoft Connect http://connect.microsoft.com and follow the links to the Microsoft Update (MU) Beta Program home page. Key information about the beta will be available through additional links on the Home page, and in the Microsoft.beta.microsoftupdate newsgroup on betanews.microsoft.com.

Scenarios that you can use as testing guides will be available as downloads on the home page as well. After completing each scenario section please submit feedback on weather it was successful. Please include Scenario\ at the start of the title for this feedback and include the SusClientId for the machine where the tests were performed to help with tracking purposes. The SusClientId is located within the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\SusClientId.

Success for this beta will be measured by your feedback on the scenarios. Document each scenario that you completed by Submitting Feedback at http://connect.microsoft.com with Scenario\ at the start of the title.

I will use these posts to track scenario execution progress.

Support will be provided during this beta, in English only, based mainly on your newsgroup postings and bug reports. Post issues and concerns in the Microsoft.beta.microsoftupdate.general newsgroup. Use the Submit Feedback form from the home page for reporting bugs. Please refer to the document on “How to Submit a Bug” and “How to Search for a Bug” on the home page at http://connect.microsoft.com. These documents will provide information on the proper formatting of bugs. We encourage you to enter a bug for every issue encounter on the site, including those that you resolve yourself. If you do resolve the issue please be sure to include the resolution in the bug so that we can document it to create troubleshooters or Knowledge Base articles to help others.

This beta is expected to last until the end of January and cover the Windows Update/Microsoft Update site only. Its purpose is to test fixes that have been made since the release of the site in July of 2006. Since this is an accelerated beta we would greatly appreciate any feedback in a timely manner so that we can address all your concerns and suggestions during this period.

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I have asked Jupiter Jones to help me with this beta he will be providing first-line assistance and guidance, and will alert me to any emerging issues. You should not consider him as ‘beta police’; rather as a very knowledgeable peer who is taking on extra work to help make this beta run smoothly.

Please remember that this is a private beta and all information and discussions are restricted under Microsoft’s Beta EULA that you accept as a beta tester.

We will be sending out weekly updates to keep everyone up to speed.

Dive right in and have a great time with this beta!

Warm regards,

Eric Brodish
Beta Coordinator