<snip>
No one knows how many release candidates there will be. A release candidate is a candidate for release, hence the name. What this means is that if there are no bugs reported in it (showstoppers), it will be the final release. If there are showstopper bugs, there will be another release candidate, and so on until one RC is without showstoppers, in which case it will be released as the Gold Master
No one plans for more release candidates than one. <snip>
I thought I read on this list, some eons ago, that the difference was that Beta's might not include all programs for testing at any one time and they could still include updated apps. RC releases were a statement of final inclusion of program or app updates or versions, that only "included" bugs would be fixed, but newer versions or releases of other apps would not be incorporated. Just my understanding. I have been wrong on many points in the past, not a fact which any of you are free to inform my wife about. Richard