Apple today followed Microsoft in opening up pre-release, or beta, versions of its personal computer operating system to all comers.



From Network World:

With little fanfare on Tuesday, Apple allowed anyone, not just registered developers, to download and install a beta version of OS X 10.9.3, an upcoming update to OS X Mavericks.

The last time that Apple allowed the public to obtain beta versions of an operating system was in 2000, when it charged $29.95 for the privilege of running an early edition of what became OS X 10.0, better known as Cheetah. Since then, only registered developers -- who pay $99 annually -- have been able to retrieve unreleased copies of its desktop OS.

  Apple kicks off public OS X beta testing