Active Worlds is constantly being updated and improved. These changes are made in stages, which are part of the development cycle. When the Alpha stage of a new version of Active Worlds is completed, it is then ready to be Beta Tested by some of the citizens of Active Worlds.

Early in the Beta stage a small number of very experienced Active Worlds Beta Testers try out the pre-release software and make detailed reports of any problems or concerns they have with the way it works.

As the Beta stage progresses, a few less experienced Active Worlds Beta Testers and some additional very experienced Beta Testers will generally be added to the Beta Team to help test the pre-release software more thoroughly.

Later in the Beta stage, additional Beta Testers with less experience may be added to the Beta team in order to assure that the pre-release software runs smoothly and intuitively.

Eventually, the pre-release software may be tried out in an Open Beta version which would be made available for download so that anyone willing to accept the risk and responsibility associated with installing and running a pre-release version may try it out. By this time the latest beta version should be stable on most systems which have at least the minimum system requirements, but users are still cautioned not to download pre-release software unless they are sure they wish to accept the potential risks and challenges which may come with testing software that may still need some additional work before being ready for release to the public. Those who wish to gain beta testing experience may wish to become an unofficial part of the beta team, when an Open Beta is available, by installing the Open Beta and filing reports of their findings as a good beta tester would.

When the pre-release software seems very near completion, a Release Candidate is issued for further beta testing.

When a Release Candidate is ready for release to the public, an official decision is made and the new Release Version of Active Worlds is made available for download.

The latest release version of the Active Worlds software as well as the latest public beta at times when one is available can be downloaded from http://www.activeworlds.com/products/download.asp