Other's version available

RTM or RTW

The term "release to manufacturing" (RTM) is used by Microsoft and others to indicate when the production version has been sent to a product manufacturer, in preparation for physical distribution (e.g., DVDs/CDs in retail boxes). RTM can also refer to online distribution, though the term "release to Web" (RTW) is usually used in this context. Typically, RTM happens weeks or months before a public release because of the time needed to produce boxed copies of the product and send them through retail distribution channels.

GA

General Availibility (GA) is used as a synonym for release to manufacturing.

Box copy

A box copy is a physical version of the final product, printed on a disc that is complete with disc graphic art. This term is used mostly by reviewers to differentiate from other forms of the released product (e.g., a downloaded copy). A box copy does not necessarily come enclosed in a box; it refers to the disc itself.

Stable or unstable

In open source programming, version numbers or the terms stable and unstable commonly distinguish the stage of development. The term stable refers to a version of software that is substantially identical to a version that has been through enough real-world testing to reasonably assume there are no showstopper problems, or at least that any problems are known and documented. On the other hand, the term unstable does not necessarily mean that there are problems - rather, that enhancements or changes have been made to the software that have not undergone rigorous testing and that more changes are expected to be imminent. Users of such software are advised to use the stable version if it meets their needs, and to only use the unstable version if the new functionality is of interest that exceeds the risk that something might simply not work right.

In the Linux kernel, version numbers are composed of three numbers, separated by a period. Between versions 1.0.0 and 2.6.x, stable releases had an even second number and unstable release an odd one. As of Linux 2.6.x, the even or odd status of the second number no longer holds any significance. The practice of using even and odd numbers to indicate the stability of a release has been used by other open and closed source projects.