Before explaining the value you experience from participating in our beta programs, let’s start with the basics. What exactly is a beta program? Simply put, a beta program is a stage in software development where users get early access to new features so the software company can test how well those features perform in real-world conditions. Feedback during this phase helps the company identify issues, refine functionality, and improve the final release.

Unlike internal testing developers and product teams might do, beta testing provides a unique invitation for external users to explore a new version of software in their own environments. That ensures companies can understand how the enhancements in their software hold up under different workflows, hardware setups, and use cases they might not have anticipated. As such, insights that beta users provide are invaluable. Feedback leads to fine-tuning features, fixing usability issues, and making improvements that weren’t caught internally. The ultimate result? A polished, user-friendly product that truly meets the needs of the people who use it.

While beta programs help polish products, you may be asking a good question: will the unpolished version hurt your workflow? It’s understandable to ask this question—after all, no one wants to risk their work with unstable software. But here’s the truth: when it comes to our beta programs, they’re intentionally designed to deliver a high-quality, reliable experience from day one.

At Golden Software, we only release beta features once we’re confident they’re ready for real-world use. Think of our beta features as “preview” capabilities: they’re not experimental or half-baked but fully functional tools that are nearly ready for final release in Surfer or Grapher. In fact, many of our customers already use beta versions of Surfer and Grapher in their daily workflows—and they do so confidently. That’s because every beta feature goes through extensive internal testing before it ever reaches your screen.

First, our product team rigorously tests new functionality in-house. Then, we move into a round of pre-beta testing, where select users help us iron out early usability questions. And finally, nearly every Golden Software employee uses the new beta features internally to validate performance and make sure everything works smoothly. In short: by the time you see a new feature in beta, it’s already passed through multiple checkpoints to ensure quality and reliability.

“Our commitment to stability and quality come first in our development,” said Golden Software CEO Zach Mills. “While we use a Beta version to test changes to the features and functionality of our software, we don’t use the beta versions as a replacement for taking the time to build quality software. Our users can still rely on our beta versions for their own production work.”

Now, why are beta programs so valuable? That’s where the benefits come into play. At Golden Software, we’ve designed our Surfer and Grapher beta programs to give users like you meaningful opportunities to shape the software you rely on while getting valuable benefits in return. For insight into what that looks like practically, here’s how participating in our beta programs helps you in the short and long-term. 

Get your hands on upcoming features before they’re officially in Surfer and Grapher. Whether it’s a new visualization tool or a major performance upgrade, you’ll be able to immediately start using new functionality to enhance your maps, graphs, and data presentations—well before anyone else. This access to upcoming features can be incredibly helpful if you’re working on a project that requires one of the new improvements and you don’t want to wait until it’s officially available. 

As you explore new features in our beta programs, you can share feedback directly with our team. It can be a suggestion for making a tool better, an explanation on bugs or usability issues you noticed, or a comment highlighting what’s working well. In all cases, your input will help guide the final version of each feature—and even shape the future direction of Surfer and Grapher as a whole so that it continues to enhance your workflow.

When you’re involved in our beta program, you’re working with a team that genuinely values your insight. We’re committed to building tools that respond to the real-world needs of geologists, hydrologists, and engineers with a geoscience focus, and our beta programs are one of the most direct ways we make that happen. We don’t just ask for feedback as a formality like some companies do—we actually listen and make appropriate implementations so that our products are valuable to you long-term. 

So, you know the benefits of our beta programs—but what does it look like to actually participate? The good news is that getting and maintaining involvement is incredibly straightforward. If you want to start participating in our Surfer and Grapher beta programs, there are only a few key details you need to know: 

• Who Can Participate: If you have a Surfer or Grapher license with active maintenance, you can participate in their respective beta programs! It’s that simple.
• How to Download Surfer Beta or Grapher Beta: Ready to get started? You can download Surfer Beta or Grapher Beta in your Golden Software My Account. For step by step instructions, visit HERE for Surfer Beta and HERE for Grapher Beta.
• How to Give Feedback on Features: To send any feedback, bug reports, or general comments, you have multiple options. You can send a quick chat or email to our customer support team or leave a comment on a relevant article in our Knowledge Base. 
• Stay in the Loop with Updates: We release regular updates throughout the beta cycle, each incorporating new functionality, improvements, or bug fixes based on user feedback. To stay informed, you can check out the Surfer Beta Version History and Grapher Beta Version History articles to get notified when new versions are available. You can also rely on the in-app message within each beta program that’ll alert you about new versions. This important in-app message will automatically appear when you open Surfer Beta or Grapher Beta, so you’ll have no trouble learning about updates!

With quick access, regular updates, and a direct connection to our team, our beta programs are designed to give you everything you need to explore new features and shape the tools you rely on every day.