Questions about bugs in pre-release/beta software or prototype hardware are off-topic. Bugs in pre-release products are common and even expected, and are often fixed before the final version is released — at which point the question becomes obsolete. Consider reporting these types of problems directly to the product manufacturer.

I was poking around on Superuser earlier and found a Windows 8.1 question. Without giving it much thought, I flagged the question as off-topic. After searching a bit more, I found that the windows-8.1 tag exists. As it stands, Windows 8.1 is set to be released on October 18th and is thus pre-release software.

73 questions are tagged.

My question, do we have a different policy about beta operating systems? What do we do about these questions when they directly violate one of our close reasons?

I found a similar question. Should questions related to problems with beta software/prototype hardware be closed? It's related to Windows 8.1 and it appears the beta/pre-release close reason was created in response to this question. So why then wasn't the tag burninated and all the questions closed as off-topic?

A note: Windows 8.1 is set to be released quite soon. I think arguing this might be a moot point, but I'd rather have some concrete discussion for future reference.

Questions about bugs in pre-release/beta software or prototype hardware are off-topic. Bugs in pre-release products are common and even expected, and are often fixed before the final version is released — at which point the question becomes obsolete. Consider reporting these types of problems directly to the product manufacturer.

I was poking around on Superuser earlier and found a Windows 8.1 question. Without giving it much thought, I flagged the question as off-topic. After searching a bit more, I found that the windows-8.1 tag exists. As it stands, Windows 8.1 is set to be released on October 18th and is thus pre-release software.

73 questions are tagged.

My question, do we have a different policy about beta operating systems? What do we do about these questions when they directly violate one of our close reasons?

I found a similar question. Should questions related to problems with beta software/prototype hardware be closed? It's related to Windows 8.1 and it appears the beta/pre-release close reason was created in response to this question. So why then wasn't the tag burninated and all the questions closed as off-topic?

A note: Windows 8.1 is set to be released quite soon. I think arguing this might be a moot point, but I'd rather have some concrete discussion for future reference.