Wirelessly posted

Why are some people awaiting the "official" releases of OSs? What is the difference from beta and official. I've seen no difference. Please help me comprehend...thank you

No difference, It's just what the carrier's pick.

Some people are waiting because installing beta software technically voids your warranty. The odds of a beta OS messing up your device to the point you'd need your warranty to cover it is slim to none. But some people choose not to.

Is it even possible to tell if you changed the OS and then re-installed the stock OS.

Nope

They are different stages in the life cycle of the product. Here is a very rough out line.

Alpha = Just beginning testing, major bugs likely still in place, and some features likely missing.
Beta = Still in testing, but most major issues should be resloved
Official = Done with testing

That should give you the general idea.

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830)

In addition if you are on beta and have a problem we can solve, we blame it on the beta :-)

Wirelessly posted

Thank you for the answers guys, I understand completly now. I apreaciate your time.

"Voiding" warranty is a common misconception. You may not be able to get support from your carrier for other than their OS versions. However, they will simply tell you to load the version they support before they will help you any further. It doesn't "void" warranty, though.

I agree, but several Verizon and Alltel representatives have been telling users that loading an OS other than the official carrier one will DEFINITELY void their warranties.

Wirelessly posted (T-Mobile BB 8320 OS 4.5.0.81)

By the way, T-Mobile's version of 4.5.0.81 has myFaves 1.5. Rogers' 4.5.0.81 doesn't. Just tiny carrier things.

By the way, the Rogers 4.5.0.81 also has the myFavs files, just like the Tmo version of the same OS, it just doesn't load because you have to remove the vendor.xml file to load the Roger's version. It is there, and by following the instructions posted over and over in this forum, you will get the myFavs. That is the case with any OS if you are on Tmo.

Except if you needed support you can very easily load whatever OS they are supporting and they would never know that you used a different OS.

One point to make: the various OS versions listed in stickies on the BBF (in the device specific boards) are NOT beta releases. They are official OS versions released and offered by a wireless provider somewhere on the globe.

Beta releases are pre-release unofficial versions, and as such, they are verboten on BBF by policy - and that policy is strictly enforced by our hardworking mods.

Wirelessly posted

Yeah...I realized that. I wish I could find those betas.

they are NOT hard to find.

The guy from the Crackberry.com podcast loaded another carrier's 4.5 OS and it killed his UMA. For me, that alone wouldn't be worth it.

The software company I work for tells customers not to run beta software in a production environment. There may be yet undiscovered bugs. That's the whole point of beta testing -- to find the bugs and fix them.