Back in the dark ages, we used to break pre-production into three stages: alpha (distribution inside the organization for comment, subject to possible radical change after feedback), beta (distribution to key customers for feedback), and gamma (more wide-spread release after feature-freeze).

I don't know how you can call something "pre-beta" if you're giving it a release outside the organization. It's not as if Google didn't know people would be commenting on it. What does that term mean?