Have you tried downloading an up to date Mandrake lately? You spend money or you get one generation old or betas. (And the money spent represents no savings over Microsoft offerings over a two or three year period.)
If by "beta" you mean the "Community Edition," my understanding is that it will be identical to the "Official Edition" once you install the usual round of updates.
So basically the difference between Mandrake 10 Community and Mandrake 10 Official is the difference between, say, Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1. (Or between Red Hat 7.0 and Red Hat 7.1!)
Paying them money seems to get you one of three things: physical CDs, enterprise products, or early access to products that are generally free within a month or two.
Kelson Vibber
SpeedGate Communications <www.speed.net>
